Peverell's Children
by Zikare
Summary: Another take on Harry & Draco in the bathroom 6th year. Harry takes Draco w/out consent. Harry thinks it's an accident; Draco thinks he's been raped. Draco gets pregnant thanks to his centaur ancestry. Harry feels bad & wants to help Draco. Draco's thinking about the baby & likes Harry's attention. Will love grow and blossom? Slash
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and make no money off of writing this.

Author's Notes: Warnings: language and censorship: This story has been heavily censored, thanks to the guidelines of this website. I originally posted this story last week and it got a fairly big reaction. Most of it positive, some of it slash-bashing. And then it was deleted due to the sexual content. So I'm reposting it after having removed all sexual content. This story is now mostly rated PG 13, but I'm going to leave the rating M, for cursing. If you would like to read the deleted material, you can find it at adultfanfiction under the same story name and my user name over there is Zakaira. I think it's best to read the story there, but use the alerts and reviews features over here.

This story will not be terribly unique, but it's been floating around in my head, so I decided to write it. I have the next few chapters done and ready to go, so updates will be regular. I have a timeline worked out for this story, but there are still many chapters that I need to fill in. So if any of you has an idea for something you would like to see my characters do or say, let me know and if it fits, I'll work it in. I especially love a snarky Draco, not one who becomes love-struck and falls into line. This story gets its name from a condition that Harry and Draco both suffer from, owing to their partial centaur ancestry. Has anyone else noticed that there are only male centaurs? Where do little centaurs come from? Keep reading to find out, but the answer will also explain how Draco ends up pregnant. Harry and Draco will both take on certain centaurian features in this story, but only in the reproductive areas. And now onto our story…

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Harry ran to catch up to Draco, but slowed down as he reached the bathroom door. He slowly opened it to find Draco standing at the sink with his head bent down and tears dripping down his face. He let out a sob, leaning his arms against the sink and burying his head in his arms, not noticing Harry's entrance. Harry watched Draco cry for a minute, unsure what to do with himself. Part of him was sure Draco had given the necklace to Katie and almost killed her and that part of him wanted to make Draco pay. The other part of him hated to see Draco suffer and wanted to go to him and comfort him. At war with himself, he remained silent and slowly crept closer, but not too close. He stopped three feet away and waited. He didn't know what he was waiting for; he was just waiting for something, anything, to let him know what to do.

Draco was too lost in his own misery to notice Harry; he kept his head buried in his arms and cried, his sobs the only sound echoing off the walls. He couldn't do this. He had one chance to please the Dark Lord and save his family and he was failing. His father would never get out of Azkaban now and his mother would probably be crucioed by the Dark Lord himself, that is, if the Dark Lord could even be bothered with torturing her and didn't just kill her out right. Since she had not failed him herself, maybe he would have mercy on her and skip the torturing. But who was he kidding? The Dark Lord was not a merciful Lord and if Draco didn't kill Dumbledore by the end of the year, his mother would pay the price and be tortured and then killed.

"Mother; he's got mother," Draco murmured softly in between gasps of air as he continued to cry into his arms.

Harry heard Malfoy and realized that he must be referring to Voldemort, but didn't make a move or a sound, wanting to give Malfoy a chance to say more. He wanted to overhear more. He wanted more clues as to why Malfoy was having this breakdown in this bathroom. Maybe it had nothing to do with Katie. Maybe Malfoy hadn't even noticed Katie was back, because he was so concerned about his mum. Maybe he had just received an owl with news of his mum and was struggling with how to handle it. Harry didn't know what it was like to have a mum, but he certainly knew what it was like to miss having one thanks to Voldemort. From the sound of it, Malfoy would know what that felt like in the very near future and Harry could understand why that might lead his nemesis to breakdown crying in the boy's bathroom. Maybe Malfoy spent all those nights in the room of requirement crying too. Or maybe he had some plan to save his mum that he had to keep secret from all of those Death Eater spawn in the Slytherin dorm. If word got out that Malfoy was acting against the Dark Lord…well that would most likely lead to a dead Malfoy turning up with a Dark Mark over his body.

Harry didn't want that to happen, but he needed more information before he could help. Malfoy would never give him that information willingly, so he decided to remain where he was and wait silently to see what else he might be able to overhear.

Draco gasped for air as he thought about his mother. She was a good kind person whose only crime had been marrying his father. She wasn't a Death Eater. She never killed or tortured muggles. She stayed at home and sang him lullabies and read him bedtime stories while his father was out Death Eating. He loved her dearly. She was the only person in this world who loved him unconditionally. She didn't care if he didn't really have a problem with muggle-borns or if he didn't have the highest marks in the school or if he didn't win every Quidditch match. Father loved him too, but there was always a price on that love; he had to be the best to earn his love, but not with mother. Mother would love him no matter how many dotty old professors he couldn't kill. Mother didn't deserve to be caught in the middle like this and used as leverage to ensure he carried through with his orders. He would do anything for her and that sick bugger knew it. He would find a way to kill Dumbledore and save his mother. He'd mend the blasted cabinet or die trying.

But how could he mend that cabinet if he was kicked out of school? Draco let out another loud sob as he thought about his earlier fuck-up. Katie Bell was back and had probably told Potter all about Rosmerta giving her the necklace. Potter would go straight to Dumbledore, who would question Rosmerta, realize she was imperiused, and figured out that it was he who had done it. He'd be expelled by this time tomorrow. He'd be kicked out of school and taken directly to the Dark Lord, who would proceed immediately to torturing mother.

No, if this was his last day at Hogwarts, then he had one last chance to fix that blasted cabinet and save mother. 'Pull yourself together! You're wasting valuable time,' Draco thought to himself and he built up his resolve to give that cabinet one last go. He could just stay in the room of requirement until he succeeded and no one would be able to find him or pull him out of there until it was done! He sucked in a sob and looked up into the mirror to fix his face and saw- Potter.

"Potter!" Draco exclaimed, turning around quickly, not knowing when Potter had gotten there or how much he had seen. But Potter had seen him crying and that was embarrassing, so his cheeks flamed red and he pulled out his wand.

Malfoy was clearly in distress; that much was obvious to Harry in the several minutes he had been standing there watching him cry. But other than that tidbit about Voldemort having his mum, Malfoy hadn't given out any clues. Harry didn't know when Voldemort had taken Narcissa Malfoy or where he had her or what Malfoy thought was going to happen to her. He had his guess, which was rather morbid, but it was just a guess and Harry still didn't know how best to help or quite what to do.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you," Harry said softly as he approached, hoping not to scare Malfoy away.

At that moment, Harry wanted to comfort Malfoy, so he stepped forward slowly, with his hands up to show he wasn't reaching for his wand. He got within a foot of his rival and reached a hand out to wipe away some of the tears from Malfoy's face.

Draco was confused and didn't know what Harry was playing at. He was also embarrassed, especially now that Potter was wiping the tears away from his face. He was like a deer caught in headlights and not knowing what to do, he simply stood there and let whatever was happening, happen.

Malfoy's skin felt warm underneath his fingertips. Harry thought for a moment about letting go and taking a step back, but his fingers tingled where they made contact with that soft skin and Malfoy was not moving. He wasn't hexing him, nor was he pushing him away and if Malfoy wasn't pushing him away, maybe he felt it too. It felt like butterflies in his stomach as he gently brushed the tears away. Malfoy's face was still damp and his face was flushed, but his lips were bright red in a way Harry had never noticed before and his grey eyes were shining with unshed tears. Malfoy just looked so innocent and vulnerable in that moment. He cupped his cheek with his other hand and gently touched his finger to those red lips.

Malfoy's brain wasn't working quite right. It was receiving the signals in, like that Potter's hands were cool and felt spectacular against the heated skin of his face, but the revulsion, that this was Potter touching him, was not there. His brain failed to process that information and instead, he was left with nothing but feelings and emotions as he leaned into the pleasant touch. He let out another gasp of breath as Potter's finger touched his lip, but it was no longer the struggle for air associated with crying, but the need to breathe more quickly as his heart rate sped up and he could feel his pulse beating rapidly in his ears, muffling what little sound there was in the quiet bathroom. He took an unconscious step forward, closer to Potter, letting his wand arm fall loosely to his side.

Harry took Malfoy's movement as a sign that he was agreeable to what was happening and so he let it continue to happen. He stepped forward slightly, closing the two inch gap between their bodies, leaving his chest gently touching Malfoy's chest just so. He could feel the gasping breaths taken, but their bodies were not pressed tightly together. His thighs brushed softly against the other boy's thighs, tingling where they met, as his hands continued to have a mind of their own, stroking those soft red lips.

Harry wasn't sure how it happened, only that it was happening. He was kissing Malfoy! His hands were cupping either side of Malfoy's face and his lips were pressed against those soft delicate lips. The biggest surprise was that Malfoy was kissing him back! Malfoy's lips were moving, slowly but firmly, underneath his own. The contact sent shivers down his spine and straight to his groin. His cock twitched to life and he could feel his heart beating out of his chest as his lips slowly caressed those succulent red lips.

Malfoy's mouth opened slightly as he turned just a tad to suck in a gasp of air. Suddenly Harry too was feeling the burn in his lungs as his body craved more oxygen to fuel whatever it was that was happening and so he turned his head slightly, taking in a few quick breaths without fully breaking contact. Their lips were still touching, just so, corner of mouth to corner of mouth, as they each caught their breath.

Harry thought for a moment that Malfoy would break away from him and hex him, but he didn't move and his mouth was still right there. His lips were open and his panting seemed to be under control, so he took the advantage, turned his head back, and rejoined their lips fully, darting his tongue out for a taste before someone came to their senses and stopped this. He didn't want to end this anytime soon. He was hot and tingling and needed relief. He instinctively inched forward, using his knee to part the other boy's thighs, so he could get in-between them.

Draco wasn't thinking, only feeling. He let Potter snog him senseless and it barely even registered when his legs were parted. His leg felt hot where Potter was pressing into him, but that didn't matter, because Potter's upper thigh was now pushing softly, but rhythmically, against him. Pleasure shot through his body.

Harry's mouth was still exploring Malfoy's deliciously open mouth. He licked soft, supple lips, tasted the warm wet tongue, and explored slick hard teeth. Malfoy let him and even moved his lips beneath his and darted a tongue out to meet his once or twice. Mostly Malfoy just panted into his mouth and let Harry control the kiss, never daring to explore Harry's mouth with his own tongue, but to Harry it was enough that he was participating.

Harry was never more grateful for the wizarding dress-code of a robe with no trousers than he was now. The trousers would have gotten in the way; zippers and buttons might make this uncomfortable, but the robe just glided and flowed with his movements, letting him move against the willing body.

"Do you want this?" Harry asked. He wanted it, but not if Malfoy didn't. Malfoy was giving him every indication that he also wanted it, but Harry had to be sure.

Potter was rutting against him and Draco's lips tingled under Potter's tongue. His cheek burned under Potter's right hand and his hip burned under Potter's left one, even though he was only being touched through the fabric of his robe. His pulse pounded so loudly in his ears that he barely heard Potter's question. But he did hear it and he did want Potter to continue what he was doing. He didn't want to have to go back to his dorm alone.

Draco had never done something like this before. Pansy had offered, but it was Pansy, so he had declined. He had been on a few dates with Astoria and even kissed her once, but then he had realized just how disgusting it was to kiss a witch. There was a seventh year wizard in Hufflepuff who had flirted with him once, but he was a Hufflepuff and with all the muggle-borns in his family tree, father would never accept the match. So Draco was rather inexperienced sexually and although he wasn't really thinking about, somewhere in the back of his mind, he hoped Potter might touch him with his hand, but if not, this thing he was doing with his leg was good.

Malfoy nodded once and made no other move to show that he had heard and was agreeing, but he did nod and he didn't back away, so it was all the conformation Harry needed to continue. He gently broke away from Malfoy, putting a hand on his chest to hold him back when Malfoy's lips tried to follow him. Harry stepped back a few inches, needing the space to remove his ratty white pants, an old cast-off from Dudley, and hike up his robe. He flung his pants behind him, into the bathroom stalls, not caring where they landed, and reached out to do the same for Malfoy.

Potter's right arm was reaching towards him, pulling his robe up, but that didn't matter because his left hand was touching him. His heart pounded so hard he could feel it beating like a drum in his chest and he struggled for breath. 'Maybe he wants to touch me with his hand after all,' was Draco's last thought as Potter got his robe up and pulled Draco's pants down.

There wasn't enough blood left to travel to Draco's brain, so his vision went blank and he saw nothing but white stars bursting across a black screen. His hearing too went blank. When before he could hear the blood pounding in his ears and the sound of his pants for breath echoing off the bathroom tiles, now the room seemed eerily quiet, with no sound at all. Before he could taste Potter's tongue darting in and out of his mouth as he struggled to kiss him while adjusting their clothing, now he couldn't taste anything. The bathroom had smelled of lavender from the cleaner the house elves used and Potter had smelled of musk and sweat, but also of vanilla from the school's standard shampoo and mint from his toothpaste, but now Draco couldn't smell any of that.

Draco could only feel. He could feel his lungs burning for more oxygen and his chest as he panted for breath. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and through his ears. He could feel Potter's tongue dart into his mouth and he could feel Potter's hand on him and it felt wonderful. He felt his knees give out and he felt Potter's strong arms catch him, holding him up. He felt Potter move them backwards a few inches, towards the sink. He felt the cold hard porcelain on his lower back. He felt Potter lift him up and scoot his body backwards until he was just seated on the edge of the sink. He felt his head resting in the crook of Potter's neck, his head turned out to better drag in the cold harsh breaths he needed, as Potter removed his pants from where they had fallen down his legs and caught on his ankles.

Harry saw Malfoy's eyes glaze over in pleasure, before he felt him sagging. He caught Malfoy around the waist with both hands, preventing him from falling to the floor. He quickly scooted Malfoy back onto the ledge of the sink, letting him rest his head in the crook of his neck as he caught his breath, but he didn't let him rest completely, as his hands quickly returned to the boxers caught around Malfoy's ankles. Harry reached down to remove them, but missed, his hand going inside the fabric, between Malfoy's legs. He tried to grab the fabric to tug them off- they were in his way and he wanted them off already- but his hand just seemed to disappear inside, like a muggle's magic hat, and he couldn't gain purchase on the fabric.

'They must have a wizard-space charm on them!' Harry thought to himself as he pulled his arm out of the boxers and finally pulled them off of Malfoy by tugging on the outside of the fabric. He quickly threw the offensive fabric over his head, like he had done with his own pants, while pushing forward into the newly opened space between Malfoy's legs. Malfoy's entire body was fiery hot and flushed pink with blood. Harry smiled as he realized how turned on Malfoy was. He was happy to think Malfoy wanted this as much as he wanted it.

Harry had not been seriously considering having sex in the near future, given that he didn't have a partner and wasn't that into girls, but when Seamus brought out a book on wizard sex spells and potions purchased over the summer, he was vaguely interested. He hadn't known he was gay at the time and that realization had still yet to hit the young hero, but there were some things that were useful no matter what you were into. Harry had found the lubrication charm useful, so like all of the sixth year boys in Gryffindor, he had studied that section and practiced casting that charm. He grew quiet proficient at it, which was something he was grateful for when he reached for Malfoy's wand, which was still clutched tightly in a limp hand by his side. Harry easily cast the charm. He dropped Malfoy's wand to the floor and went for it. And then being the teenaged virgin that he was, it was over.

Draco had not budged a millimeter from his position on the sink with his head propped against Potter's shoulder and neck. He could not move. All thought had left him and he was left only with the sensation of touch. It felt good, exceedingly good, until suddenly it felt absolutely horrible. His face scrunched up in pain. It hurt so much that his brain turned off that sensation too and he was left floating in blackness with a pain in his arse for an undetermined amount of time.

Harry stood there panting and didn't realize that Malfoy hadn't enjoyed it. He had not seen the pain in his face, because it was still turned away from him. He didn't notice that Malfoy took in one sharp gasp of breath, before his panting stopped and his breathing returned to normal. He didn't realized that Malfoy passed out and was resting limply against him, until Malfoy's head slipped sideways off his shoulder and his body followed as he slowly began to slip off the sink. Harry grabbed a hold of Malfoy at the waist with both hands, steadying him back on the sink, before wrapping one arm around his waist and using the now freed hand to prop Malfoy's head back onto his shoulder.

"You alright there?" Harry asked concerned.

'He probably couldn't hold on,' Harry thought to himself. 'Guess I better help him back down now.'

But Malfoy didn't respond, and Harry wanted a responsive partner, so he gently laid Malfoy's body back against the mirror behind the sink, careful not to press Malfoy's back into the water faucet. With Malfoy's body leaned back against the mirror, Harry finally had a chance to see his face, scrunched up in pain, eyes closed. Figuring Malfoy was in pain because he was a virgin, Harry decided to cup Malfoy's cheek with his free hand, still holding onto his waist with the other arm, making sure that he didn't fall. "It's okay," Harry soothed softly, hoping that Malfoy would respond and be alright.

But Malfoy didn't respond and Harry began to worry as he slowly realized that Malfoy had passed out. He moved the hand on Malfoy's cheek down to the faucet and turned it on, cupping his hand under the cold stream of water. He slowly brought the water up to Malfoy's face and splashed him with it. When that failed to roused Malfoy, Harry retrieved another handful of water and splashed Malfoy's stomach with it.

"Merlin's Beard!" Harry swore softly, not liking the situation at all.

Finally accepting that Malfoy had passed out on him, Harry pulled his wand out of his robe sleeve-pocket. "Enervate!" Harry exclaimed, pointing his wand at Malfoy.

Draco gasped, choked on his own saliva, and spluttered as he came back to consciousness. First he realized that his bum felt like it was on fire and second he realized that he was covered in water. His robes were pushed up under his armpits, but they were dripping wet. His face and stomach were wet as well. Third was that Potter was standing over him and holding onto him. Potter had his wand out and pointed at him, so he reached for his wand, only to find that he didn't have it anymore. He was unarmed, in a very bad position, and running on enervate fumes.

"Get off me Potter," Draco tried to shout, but it came out hoarse and whispery. He pushed Potter away with all his might, but the motion fell short as Potter tightened his hold on him and he let out a loud cry of pain.

"Okay, okay, just hold on a second," Harry said, trying to do too many things at once. He was worried Malfoy would fall off the sink if he just let go, so he wanted to put Malfoy down on the floor. And to complicate matters, Malfoy was pushing and shoving him and squirming. It was all he could do to hold onto Malfoy and keep him from falling.

Draco screamed as Potter wrapped his arms around him more tightly. This was so humiliating that Draco wanted to cry if he could just stop screaming long enough to. He pushed Potter back again and resumed his squirming, trying to get away from Potter. He felt Potter's arms loosen their grip and seizing the opportunity, he pushed Potter off of him as hard as he could, the faucet painfully gouging into his back as his own body moved back from Potter's. His bum was on fire, his back hurt, and the sink was wet and slippery; all of which caused him to lose his balance and fall side-ways off of the sink. He would have been embarrassed if he wasn't already humiliated. What could possibly be worse than Potter doing _that_ in his bum?

Harry fell back onto the hard tiled floor. He landed hard on his bum. It hurt and he was just about to start feeling sorry for himself when he saw Malfoy fall off the sink. Malfoy landed hard on his side, before his head hit the wall in back of the sink with a bang. Harry slowly inched closer to Malfoy, wanting to help him, and trying to think of a healing spell that might work.

Draco took a minute to recover from hitting his head. He saw Potter inching closer with his wand out and again he wished for his wand. Then he saw his wand laying a few feet away from him on the other side of the sink! 'Screw my buggered arse and my bum hip and my aching head, I need that wand,' he thought, before throwing his body in the direction of said wand. He grabbed it and pointed it threateningly at Potter while he tried to remember how to cast a hex, any hex, so long as he could keep Potter off of him. And while he thought, he got up on his knees, struggling to fix his robe, which had been caught around his waist. He finally got the blasted robe lowered enough to cover his bits and looked up to see that Potter had followed him and currently had a hand held out to him.

"Stay back!" Draco shouted, still trying to get his wits about him.

"I just want to help," Harry replied, taking his arm back and letting it hang loosely by his side. He had hurt Malfoy and he wanted to fix it. "Let me take you to the hospital wing."

'So you can brag about how you had your way with me?' Draco thought before starting to cry again. He got out one curse, which he aimed at Harry, in-between sobs. He didn't plan on going to the hospital wing or letting anyone know about what had just happened. If his dorm mates knew how weak he was he would have a target on his back for the rest of his school career.

The curse missed Harry, who jumped up and retreated towards the bathroom door. He didn't want to leave Malfoy like this, but he also didn't want to get hit.

"Crucio!" Draco shouted, wanting Potter to feel as much pain as he felt at that moment. But Draco had never performed the cruciatus curse before, and so it just bounced limply off of Potter's chest.

Harry responded instinctually to the failed cruciatus, casting the first spell that came to mind, which happened to be, "Sectumsempra!" Harry watched in horror as his spell ripped opened the front of Malfoy's robes and he could see the blood seeping out of the cuts on his chest. The last thing he wanted to do was to hurt him more than he already had and now he would probably bleed to death in this bloody bathroom!

Harry went to kneel at Malfoy's side and took his head into his lap, whispering, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," over and over again. He could see the blood draining out of Malfoy and his face turning a sickly pale shade of white, but he didn't know the counter curse or how to save him.

The bathroom door banged open loudly and Snape barged in, pointing his wand at Harry before turning to the bloodied boy lying motionless on the tiled floor. Recognition dawned on Snape's face as he began muttering a counter curse, knitting the skin back together and forcing the blood back into the emptied veins. Harry watched in silence as Snape worked, grateful beyond measure that he would not become a murderer this day.

"Potter, you are to stay here and not move a muscle until I come back to deal with you!" Snape hissed through his teeth as he levitated Draco's body. Harry nodded and Snape left with Draco.

Harry heard the door bang shut and sprang into action, looking for his misplaced pants; he did not want to be caught by Snape again without his pants on. He found Malfoy's first, on the floor of the first stall, and decided to tuck them away in his backpack to return as soon as possible, because he didn't want Snape to find out that Malfoy's pants had been removed and discarded on the bathroom floor. He finally found his own pants in the third stall and put them back on, before setting about to wait for Snape's return.

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Author's Note: I don't mean to be a review whore, I just am. I love reviews and getting them makes me think about this story more and leads to more and faster updates. Also, your feedback is invaluable in the writing process. So please take a moment to leave me a review and let me know that someone is reading this and I'm not just writing this for myself.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: This was the last deleted chapter, so now that is up, I can begin posting new stuff again! And it was only slightly censored from the original version.

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When Snape returned, Harry tried to get information out of him regarding how Malfoy was doing, but instead Snape just wanted to know about Harry's potions book. Harry didn't have the book on him, so he ran to his dorm to get it, getting Ron's book as well. He made a detour to the room of requirement to hide the Half Blood Prince's book, before handing Ron's book over to Snape for inspection. Snape let him go after that with nothing more than a month's worth of detentions, but Harry knew that Snape knew he had gotten that spell from that book.

Harry didn't dwell much on his problems with Snape, instead he went to the Gryffindor common room where he found Ron and Hermione. He told them a watered down version of events, leaving out all mentions of anything sexual, because he didn't know how he felt about that yet. He needed time to think and he wanted to keep that to himself for a while. Instead he said, "I followed Malfoy into the bathroom. He tried to crucio me, so I hit him with a curse from the Half Blood Prince's potion book. It nearly killed him, but Snape came in and saved him. Now he's in the hospital wing."

Hermione had a bunch more questions, which Harry either refused to answer or legitimately didn't know the answer to. Ron patted him on the back and seemed proud of him for almost killing Malfoy, which didn't sit right with Harry and led to a fight that he was trying to forget. Instead he tried to concentrate on getting some of his homework done. Given that he had detention with Snape for the next month, he wouldn't have much time for homework, so he really needed to get to it. He did manage to get some of it done, but his mind kept drifting off to thoughts of Malfoy and wondering if he was okay.

Eventually Harry looked up from one of his daydreams to notice that the common room was empty. He checked the time and found that it was halfway past eleven, thus he decided to go to bed. It took him forever to fall asleep and his mind kept replaying the day's events and trying to figure out how he ended up snogging Malfoy. Did he fancy Malfoy? Was he gay? How badly had he hurt Malfoy? Was Malfoy okay? Was he back in his own dorm room, tucked away safely for the night? Harry hoped fervently that he was.

With thoughts of Malfoy tucked away safe and sound, Harry finally fell asleep. He slept fitfully that night, his dreams filled with images from the bathroom that day. His vision filled with bloody bathrooms, dead Malfoys, and angry Snapes. He woke up sweating a couple of times, his heart beating rapidly in his chest. There wasn't much he could do, so he turned over and went back to sleep, only to wake up after another such nightmare. He was glad when it was morning, if only so that he wouldn't have to close his eyes again.

Harry groggily slogged through his morning classes without sight of Malfoy, only to find out the latest gossip during lunch. "Malfoy's in the hospital wing. Everyone's sayin' you did it," Seamus told him after coming back from chatting with a couple of Hufflepuffs.

So Malfoy didn't get to go back to his dorm last night and even now was still stuck in the hospital wing. Harry felt awful and buried his head in his hands so that he could have a moment to think about that news. Everyone was looking at him expecting him to know what was going on when he didn't know anything new and didn't particularly want to share what had happened in the loo with the entire school. He didn't want them to know even the little bit that he had told Ron and Hermione. But everyone was staring at him when he finally lifted his head, so he said, "Yeah, I cursed him, but he should live."

With an answer like that, everyone wanted more details from him, which he refused to give. He was saved from the badgering questions by Snape of all people.

"I will be unavailable to supervise your detention tonight Mr. Potter," Snape said dryly. "I have arranged for you to serve it with Mr. Filch. You will be cleaning the owlery, without magic. Is this clear Mr. Potter?"

"Filch, owlery, got it. But why does the owlery need cleaning?" Harry asked.

"Mr. Finnegan had an accidental explosion up there this morning when he went to owl a letter home to his mummy. He broke the self-cleaning charms on the place. I am led to believe the place is littered with owl droppings already. It should take you all night," Snape replied. He seemed almost giddy in his dry, monotone way.

"Yes sir. What time am I to report to Filch?" Harry asked.

"After dinner."

"But what about my homework? If I'm to serve detention every day for a month then surely I'll need to do my homework before I report to detention," Harry argued. He had never been let out of a detention before ten at night and he didn't want three hours of detention every night.

"You'll just have to do it before dinner and on the weekends," Snape replied, before walking away, probably to find some more Gryffindors he could give detention too.

Harry rushed through his homework that afternoon, knowing that he would probably never have time to play Quidditch again with all of the detentions Snape had given him. He got a lot of it done, even though he kept finding himself side-tracked by thoughts of Malfoy. Would he be out of the hospital wing tonight? Malfoy wasn't at dinner, which meant he was unlikely to be back in class tomorrow. But then Snape had healed the wounds from that blasted curse and Harry knew that Madam Pomfrey could fix anything else that was wrong with him, so Harry was left wondering what was wrong.

Harry reported to Mr. Filch after dinner and was rewarded with a bucket full of soapy water and a wooden handled cleaning brush. He then proceeded to the owlery where he was met with an owlery full of owl droppings. "Curse you Seamus Finnegan," Harry muttered to himself as he got to work.

Harry thought as he cleaned. He had a lot of introspection to do regarding just what he had done in that bathroom. Yes he had almost killed Malfoy, but that was an accident. He was beating himself up over it, but it was done and Malfoy had been saved, which left Harry with a lot of questions regarding just what he wanted to happen next.

'I had sex with Malfoy,' was a thought that kept running through Harry's mind with all the possible connotations he could think of. He had been half asleep half a dozen times the night before and then, 'I had sex with Malfoy,' would pop into his head and he would be wide awake again.

First of all, there was the obvious: he was no longer a virgin. Sure it was awkward with Malfoy passing out on him and bleeding and pushing him off and hexing him; that certainly didn't help his ego. It was official- he was crap in bed- so bad that Draco had tried to use an unforgiveable on him; it probably wasn't even _possible_ to be worse than that. But at least he wasn't a virgin anymore and maybe he wouldn't be so bad at it the next time, although at this point, any encounter that left his partner without the need to visit the hospital wing would be an improvement.

'I wonder if Malfoy will let there be a next time,' was another thought that ran through Harry's head. That one startled him and he had to think about it for some time, scrubbing over and over again at a particularly caked on bit of bird excrement. It implied that he, Harry, wanted there to be a next time; a next time with Malfoy.

'Okay, just forget about Malfoy being the spawn of Death Eaters and think about this rationally. Draco's a good looking bloke.' And that last part of the thought got Harry caught up in another whole topic for self-introspection. Harry was a bloke and Malfoy was a bloke. Did that make Harry gay? Was he a ponce? A fruit? He had never had such intense sexual feelings for another person before. Sure he had that crush on Cho, but that was nothing compared to this. He had been fantasizing about Ginny lately, but he didn't really want her, not the way he wanted Draco. He wanted Draco's body. The thought of Ginny naked made him want to gag; he didn't want her the way he wanted Draco.

'Maybe it's good this happened. Now I know that what I feel for Ginny isn't sexual,' Harry thought next, working his way through the owlery, one turd at a time.

From there he wondered if he found other guys attractive, or if it was just Draco. 'Definitely not Ron. Maybe Dean, but not Neville or Seamus; eww,' Harry thought, not even paying attention to the crap as he cleaned. 'Okay Dean, focus on him. Does he look good in the shower? Maybe. I bet Malfoy looks great in the shower!' Little Harry got excited about that thought, imagining the water dripping down over Malfoy's lean body, washing over the giant...

'Little Malfoy should have its own postal code, it's so big,' Harry thought to himself and sniggered out loud. It was a good thing he was alone in the owlery, so that nobody would bother him, wanting to know what was so funny. He needed the time to think. 'And wank. Definitely need to wank if I'm gonna keep thinking about Malfoy's bits.'

Harry needed a break. His bucket was so full of shite that the water was thick with grey and brown muck. He went outside to dump the bucket out, before going into a little supply room under the stairs on the ground level of the owlery. There was a sink there where he made a bucket full of fresh clean soapy water and rinsed out his brush, before washing off his own hands, because he didn't want to get owl dropping on his wand or in his robes. He then pulled out said wand and cast a cleaning charm, a drying charm, and a warming charm on himself.

Feeling a lot better now that he was warm, clean, and dry, Harry sat down in the lone chair in the corner and let his thoughts take a detour through Malfoy-in-the-shower-land. When he was done, he vanished the mess, and thought to himself, 'Okay, I'm gay. I'm definitely gay and I fancy Malfoy and his bits; especially his bits. No wonder it takes me so long to spank the monkey when I try thinking about Ginny. I'll just think about Malfoy from now on and cut the required time way down. How does a boy that thin, have something like that hidden on him? It's like a third leg! Wait, it's not _that _long, don't exaggerate; it's more like a third arm, just down there. Wait, no, his arms are longer than that…okay, it's like a short third arm. Okay, better get back to work, or I'll be here all night.'

So Harry went back to work cleaning the owlery, finally having come to the realization that he was gay and fancied Malfoy. He even wanted to have sex with Malfoy again. 'The sex was enjoyable, for me at least,' he thought, which led him back to his earlier thought regarding whether or not Malfoy would ever consent to sex with him again.

'I'll have to get him alone and apologize to him. Maybe if I make it clear that I want more than just a one off he'll be more amenable to continuing the relationship.'

And so with that settled Harry resolved to finish the owlery quickly so that he could go back to the common room and finish all his homework for the next day. If he didn't have to worry about homework tomorrow, then he could sneak into the hospital wing and see Malfoy before dinner. That is, if Malfoy was still in the hospital wing. By all rights Malfoy should be right as rain by then and Harry could arrange to meet him somewhere else, like the room of requirement. Well maybe not somewhere quite so private next time; not after what happened in the loo. 'Alright, the library then.' Harry would ask Malfoy to meet him in the library. He could cast a silencing charm and snog him in the back when Madam Pince wasn't looking.

Harry cast a scourgify on the owl droppings, breaking Snape's ban on magical cleaning, but then the ban was stupid, because an automatic scourgify was what was normally used to keep the owlery in shape. So he cast scourgify a few more times until the owlery sparkled, cleaned up his bucket of water and brush, and then proceeded back to his common room, without returning the cleaning supplies to Filch, because if Filch new he was done early, he would probably give him something else to clean.

Ron and Hermione were happy to see him. Ron was a bit miffed that Harry didn't fancy a game of exploding snap with him and the rest of the sixth year boys, but Hermione was happy to help him get through that transfigurations essay that was due the day after tomorrow; she was just so happy that he didn't want to leave it to the last minute that she didn't mind sharing her research. Hermione's research, like always, helped a lot and made the essay practically write itself. He was done in no time and even got a start on his charms essay that was also due.

"I gotta get back to detention," Harry announced, packing up his homework at nine thirty sharp and grabbing his bucket and brush.

His fellow Gryffindors waved to him and he set off to find Filch and give him back his cleaning supplies.

"Done already, are you Mr. Potter?" Filch questioned.

"Yes sir," he replied. Filch looked like he was thinking about giving Harry something else to clean, so he added, "I still have homework to do, so if you don't mind, I'll just be going then."

"Yeah, sure, go," Filch said and Harry didn't wait around to hear Filch start on his rant about the good old days when he used to tie students up in the dungeons by their toenails; he heard the first few words of it and that was enough.

Harry went back to the common room and finished his essay, before going to bed. His sleep was fitful again, but now that he had a plan, he was able to get through the night much more easily. Plus after a few hours of manual labor and hardly any sleep the night before, he was bone tired. He only woke up with thoughts of bloodied dead blonds once that night.

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Author's Note: Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: No censorship was needed for this chapter :)

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It had been two days since the incident in the bathroom. For two days now the school was abuzz with rumors regarding what had happened to him in that loo, but no one knew anything more than what they did yesterday. Malfoy was still in his hospital bed recovering. Madam Pomfrey could cure anything and everything in two days' time! Snape had fixed the sectumsempra, why was Malfoy still in bed? Why wasn't he sitting with the rest of the Slytherins at their stupid bloody table, eating up the attention and claiming that Harry had attack and nearly killed him? Why wasn't Malfoy making fun of him for cumming on the floor? Harry wanted another chance with him, but at this point, he'd take anything, including Malfoy making fun of him, over this endless waiting for Draco to get out of the hospital wing.

Well, he had planned on asking Malfoy to meet him in the library before dinner and if Malfoy was still in the hospital wing, then that was where Harry would have to go to meet with him.

"Harry, do you want to get started on our potions essay?" Hermione asked gently. She and Ron had followed him up to his dorm room after their last class of the day. They knew that he had a lot on his mind and they probably wanted to keep tabs on him or something.

"No, what I need to do is sneak into the hospital wing and find out what's wrong with Malfoy." Harry looked down at the Marauder's map, having just pulled it out of his bag. "Snape's in there with him. Why isn't he better by now?" Harry asked his friends, knowing they didn't have the answer.

"He'll be out soon, you just need to have patience," Hermione replied.

"Screw patience, I'm gonna use my cloak," Harry replied, taking his books out of his bag and leaving them on his bed, before putting his backpack on.

Harry ran down the stairs and out the portrait hole. He slipped into a side corridor, pulled his invisibility cloak out of his backpack, and put it on. He checked his map again, noting that Snape was still in the hospital wing with Madam Pomfrey and Draco Malfoy. He put the map back in his pocket and pulled the hood over his face, before taking off at a run for the hospital wing. The door was open, so Harry was able to silently sneak in.

Harry found Malfoy in a bed against the far wall of the hospital wing. The curtains were draped around one side of the bed, but were open on the closer side, where Snape stood talking to Malfoy. He looked slightly exasperated with his student. "Mr. Malfoy, I'm not going to wait here all day. You should have been healed and up off that bed two nights ago. I repaired all the damage from Potter's curse and Madam Pomfrey says that she can find nothing else wrong with you. Now get up and if you fall again, like you did yesterday and the day before, I'll be right here to catch you. Have I ever let you fall on your face?"

"No, but it still hurt, sir," Draco replied softly, but he still moved closer to the edge of the bed he was sitting on, looking like he was contemplating getting up.

"I don't know why. Sectumsempra has never had these side-effects before…although it hasn't been tried out on very many people who have lived," Snape replied in his slow monotone voice.

"Maybe you could just give me a few more days to recover, before making me try again, sir," Draco said hopefully.

"You've already missed two days of classes. Just do it and get it over with already Mr. Malfoy," Snape replied, holding his arms out in the perfect position to catch Malfoy, should he fall.

"Fine," Draco replied. He took a large gulp of air before putting his feet down on the floor and falling out of bed screaming. It happened so fast that it looked to Harry like Malfoy might have never have planned on standing. There should have been a moment where he balanced on his feet before collapsing, but Malfoy just went straight to collapsing, like he didn't even have feet. Malfoy always did like attention.

'You've no right thinking bad of him like that, not after what you've done,' Potter told himself.

Snape caught Malfoy before he could reach the ground and put him back into the bed. Malfoy screamed like he was in a lot of pain a few more times and in-between he tried to stifle his sobs. 'There's no one here, but Professor Snape, for Malfoy to be putting on a show for. His pain must be real,' Harry thought.

"Drink this," Snape said, handing Malfoy a potion vial from the inside pocket of his robe. "It's a pain potion."

Malfoy was crying softly now, but he took the potion and drank it, before handing Snape back the empty vial.

"I'm going to talk to Madam Pomfrey. Get some rest Mr. Malfoy and we'll try this again tomorrow," Snape said.

Malfoy nodded and laid back down on his bed, while Snape pulled the curtains mostly closed around the bed and left. Harry stepped out of the way for Snape to pass and then watched as Snape disappeared into Madam Pomfrey's office. Harry was about to leave to give Malfoy some privacy, but he heard Malfoy crying and just couldn't turn his back on him when he was in pain. Harry still didn't know what was wrong with him and he really wanted to know.

Harry slowly crept inside Malfoy's curtains. There was a chair facing the bed on the right side of the nightstand and Harry decided to sit on it. Malfoy was lying on his bed, with his back turned to Harry, crying quietly. Harry sat and watched.

Draco wasn't in pain anymore, which was the only reason he had agreed to try for Professor Snape: his arse still hurt and letting himself fall off the bed was the only way he was going to get another pain potion out of his head of house. Snape wouldn't give him one just because he said he was in pain; not two days after he should've been cured. He knew that he wouldn't be able to stand and would end up falling. He wasn't able to stand yesterday or the day before when they had made him try. His arse felt like it was being ripped apart all over again whenever he tried to stand. Moving about and sitting up were bad, but standing was absolutely torture. Falling was embarrassing, but it wasn't as humiliating as telling someone about what Potter had done to him.

The worst part about it was that Draco had _let_ Potter do it to him. He had let Potter kiss him and touch him, even letting him take his clothes off, for nothing more than the implied promise of a wank. He hadn't been thinking. If he had thought about it he never would have agreed to any sexual activity with Potter. Potter was a good looking wizard, but he was still the boy-who-lived. He was the boy who refused his hand in first year and refused his friendship. He wasn't about to risk his life and the lives of his parents for a wank with a boy who wasn't even his friend; a boy who hated him!

But Draco had not thought about it and in the heat of the moment, a wank from a hot wizard didn't seem so bad. If it had been just a wank, he probably could've forced it out of his mind and continued with what he had to do and pretend that he hated Potter's cute arse. He could've laid low through the rest of the war, found a nice pureblood to marry, and had a Malfoy heir, just like his father expected of him. He could've mended that bloody cabinet, killed Dumbledore, and saved his mother, just like he expected of himself. But now it seemed that he wasn't going to be able to do any of that, because he couldn't even get out of bed. His mother was as good as dead and no pureblood wizard would want him now that his virginity was gone; stolen from him by the blasted boy who lived!

Harry watched Malfoy cry and waited. After ten minutes he saw, through the slit in the bed curtains, Snape leave the hospital wing. Harry decided then that it was time to show himself. He removed his invisibility cloak and stashed it in his backpack, which he took off and placed on the ground beside the chair.

Draco heard movement by his bed, turned his head, and saw Potter. "What're you doing here?" he asked with a sneer, turning around quickly to face his enemy and letting out a screech of pain. He wanted to reach for his wand, but it was in the bedside table, just out of his reach. Instead he gasped in pain from the movement of turning to face Potter and knew he needed a minute before he could go after his wand. 'Stupid blasted pain potion hasn't kicked in all the way.'

"Merlin's Beard! Is, is that blood?" Harry asked, pointing to the blood stain left on the sheet from where Malfoy had just been. There hadn't been a stain there when Snape was trying to get him to walk, had there?

"What's it to you?" Draco replied snippily. The last thing he needed what bloody Potter in here sticking his nose into Draco's business.

"You shouldn't be bleeding still. Snape said he fixed the Sectumsempra and Madam Pomfrey said you were alright!" Harry exclaimed, concerned he had caused Malfoy lasting damage.

"It's not from the curse," Draco replied tartly. He wanted his wand. He wanted to curse Potter's bits off so that Potter would never be able to do this to him again. He wanted Potter to hurt as much as he was hurting.

Harry took a minute to figure out what Malfoy was implying, and then he took another few minutes to sit in stunned silence that he had hurt Malfoy that bad when they had sex. Surely that was something Madam Pomfrey should've fixed by now. "Can't Madam Pomfrey fix it?" he finally asked, dreading the answer.

"I didn't tell her," Draco answered.

"Why not?" Harry asked, getting up to fetch Madam Pomfrey to fix Malfoy's arse. He wasn't going to stand and watch Malfoy in pain.

"Stop!" Draco hissed. "Where're you going?"

"To get Madam Pomfrey," Harry replied.

"No. If you tell her I'll hex your ballocks off!" Draco whispered loudly.

"You don't want her to fix you? You want to stay there, bleeding and in pain for Merlin knows how long?" Harry asked.

"Yes."  
"Why?" Harry sounded exasperated.

"I don't want anyone to know that you r- rrr-ray- me," Draco said, unable to make himself say the word.

Harry couldn't figure out what word Malfoy was struggling with, but he got enough of the rest of the sentence to figure out what his problem was. "You don't want her to know you had sex with a halfblood, is that it? You're so ashamed of me that you're willing to sit here in pain, bleeding all over yourself? Tell me, why didn't Snape notice the blood?"

"I did a scourgify before he came in here. If I could reach my wand, I'd scourgify it again. And yes, I am ashamed that I let you. I should've known you would do that and I should've stopped you before you did, but I was too naive to know what you were planning. Are you happy now?" Draco asked angrily, trying to keep his tears at bay.

"You didn't know?" Harry asked confused.

"No. How was I supposed to know?" Draco asked indignantly.

"I asked you if it was okay," Harry replied.

"I thought you were asking to wank me. Of course that wasn't okay!"

"You thought I was just going to wank you?" Harry asked, realization setting in. He didn't know all the details regarding gay sex; he only knew he was supposed to do it in the arse because of a muggle television program he had seen. In hind sight, wanking Malfoy would have been a smaller step to take than all out sex.

Draco said nothing, but nodded, looking down at his hands in his lap. He was somewhat scared to be in the same room with Potter, but Madam Pomfrey was within hearing range and surely she would stop him if he tried again. Draco didn't want anyone to know what Potter had done to him, but part of him also wanted everyone to know just what kind of sick fuck Potter was. If Pomfrey caught Potter in the act, then Draco wouldn't ever have to say it out loud and Potter would still get punished.

"So you're not upset that it was me, because I'm a halfblood, just that it was sex?" Harry asked, feeling worse about the situation. Not only did he violate Malfoy, but also, Malfoy didn't seem to care about the whole blood purity thing.

"Yes, I'm upset it was you! My mother is as good as dead as soon as the Dark Lord finds out about this!" Draco hissed flippantly.

Harry felt like such an arse thinking that Malfoy was freaking out about blood purity when really he was concerned over his mum's life. So much had happened since the incident in the loo that he completely forgot that Malfoy's mum was in danger. Sure he had been concerned at the time, but since that kiss, his first real enjoyable kiss, he hadn't thought again about how to help Malfoy save his mum.

"About your mum, I can protect her. Where is she?" Harry asked. Maybe he could make this right by helping Malfoy rescue his mum.

"With the Dark Lord, my crazy Aunt Bella, and a bunch of other Death Eaters," Draco replied dejectedly. He was never going to be able to rescue his mother if he was trapped in this hospital bed. Well maybe he could kill Dumbledore from the bed, if he could just lure him in…

"I'll take care of Bellatrix too. I owe her one for what she did to Sirius," Harry replied.

"They'll just regroup and kidnap her again. She can't stay in the Manor all the time. There's a reason mother never became a Death Eater; besides her kind loving nature, she's not very good at defensive spells.

"We have safe houses. I have a house under the fidelius charm. I can hide her," Harry insisted.

"You've got a house under the fidelius charm?" Draco asked disbelievingly.

Harry nodded and said, "Dumbledore uses it as headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, but its mine and I can ask for it back if I need it. Or your mum could just stay there with it as headquarters. There's plenty of room."

"Of course you live in a house under the fidelius charm. You're the bloody boy who lived, why wouldn't you?"

"Actually, most of the time I live with my muggle relatives under some ancient blood magic protection triggered by my mum's death. But you're mum won't want to live with muggles and the fidelius house is also the Ancient and most Noble House of Black. You and your mum are on the family tapestry in the drawing room. I thought maybe she might like it."

"You've inherited the House of Black, in London?" Draco asked. He used to know where it was. He used to visit there and play in the garden out back while his mother chatted with his great aunt. He couldn't remember what his aunt's name was or where the house was, but he still had a stuffed dragon that his aunt had given him for his fifth birthday. It was in his trunk in his dorm.

"Yes," Harry replied hesitantly. He didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Fine, whatever, mother will probably concede to staying at your house. Just don't get mother hurt and don't tell anyone about what you did to me."

"I'm sorry. I'll get Madam Pomfrey to fix it and then I'll make it up to you," Harry said, remembering the blood stained sheets. Malfoy was going to let him rescue his mother, so if he could just get him some medical treatment, he would feel a lot better about what he did.

"You can make it up to me by not telling anyone!" Draco hissed. He still didn't want anyone to know what had happened, even if Potter wasn't being a total prat about it. He had thought that Potter would've bragged to the whole school by now and everyone would know about his humiliation. But he was sure Potter hadn't told anyone, because if he had, word would have gotten around to Professor Snape. Professor Snape knew everything and if he knew, then he wouldn't have come in here earlier trying to get him to walk when his insides still felt like they were ripped to bits.

"Then you just want to stay here in pain?" Harry asked confused.

"It doesn't hurt much anymore, thanks to that pain potion. It won't hurt again for another six hours and with any luck, I'll be asleep by then," Draco replied knowingly.

"But you'll still be in pain tomorrow and you can't walk or go to class."

"Well if you want to try to fix this, then do it without telling anyone. Make yourself useful and steal me a couple vials of pain potion."

"I can't do that," Harry replied.

"Sure you can. You've got your invisibility cloak, haven't you?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, but a few pain potions won't stop the bleeding!"

"The bleeding stops on its own after a few hours. It only starts back up again when Professor Snape comes and tries to get me out of bed. All that falling…" Draco trailed off.

"Okay, but you still won't be able to walk," Harry protested.

"It's already been two days. Give it another couple of days and I'll be healed the muggle way."

"What if I can find a spell or a potion that'll fix it?" Harry asked, grasping at straws. This was his fault and Draco wasn't letting him fix it and that was driving him crazy.

"I don't trust your wand work and it'll take too long to brew a potion. Come to think of it, your potions are worse than your wand work, but if you find a potion that'll fix it that was brewed by either Professor Snape or Madam Pomfrey, I'll take it."

"Great! I'll just go investigate," Harry replied happily, getting up to leave.

"And Potter?" Draco called, stopping him.

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell anyone, and I mean _anyone_, not even weasel and what's her name," Draco said.

"But they can help me," Harry pleaded.

"No, I don't want them to know. We may be coming to an understanding, but we're not friends, so I'm not about to trust your friends with my life and my mother's life."

"Okay, I won't tell," Harry replied. He waited for Malfoy to nod and then he walked away. He took one last look at Malfoy, before running off to the Gryffindor common room. He couldn't tell Ron and Hermione exactly what happened, but he could still get their help.

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Author's Note: Please review.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: This is another one where no censorship was needed.

* * *

Harry took Hermione and Ron up to his dorm room so he could ask for their help in private. "I need your help. We don't have much time until dinner and after dinner I have detention with Snape again, so I don't have time to work on this myself," Harry said urgently.

"Of course we'll help Harry, just tell us what you need us to do," Hermione replied and Ron nodded.

"Okay. So Malfoy is still in the hospital wing, because he's still hurt. Snape fixed what my curse did on the outside- on the outside he looks fine- but on the inside he's still in pain. The stupid git is refusing to tell Snape or Madam Pomfrey where it hurts or what it feels like, so they can't figure out what's wrong and they don't want to risk just giving him anything. Instead they're going to wait him out until he caves or heals naturally. But it's been two days and he hasn't healed yet and he can't even stand up!"

"So what are we supposed to do to help mate?" Ron asked.

"We need to find a general all-purpose healing potion. Malfoy said that if I find one he thinks will work and steal it from Madam Pomfrey, then he'll take it. Can you two go to the library for me and look up healing potions? I know you don't have much information to work with, but I think Malfoy knows what's wrong and will be able to tell whether the potion will work for him," Harry answered.

"Yes. Ron and I'll go after dinner," Hermione answered. Ron gave her a look that said all too clearly that he didn't want to, but Hermione gave him a look right back and added, "Ronald still has his transfigurations essay to write, so we need to go to the library anyway."

"Merlin's droopy left eye! I completely forgot that Professor McGonagall wants a roll of parchment on Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration for tomorrow!" Ron exclaimed. "Alright mate, we'll go to the library while you serve your detention. Hermione will look up healing potions and I'll write my transfigurations essay, although how I'm supposed to remember those five exemptions, I'll never know."

"I didn't know Merlin had a droopy eye," Harry replied, smiling at his friends.

"Well yeah, just the left one after the stroke. But blimey, look at the time, we better get down to dinner so you can get to your detention on time," Ron replied.

The three of them went down to dinner together and afterwards, Harry went to Snape's office for detention.

"Do you want to tell me where you got that spell Potter or do you want me to find some menial task for you to do. I don't have any dirty cauldrons for you to scrub, but I bet Professor Slughorn has some you could borrow," Snape said dryly.

"I found it written on a scrap of paper at headquarters, sir," Harry lied.

"Liar," Snape accused.

"Could I ask you about something else? About Malfoy?" Harry asked. He wanted to change the topic, but he also had a promise to keep.

"What about Mr. Malfoy would you like to ask?" Snape asked in reply.

"Well he let it slip that Voldemort had his mum. I've sort've promised him that I'd help him save her, you know, to make up for nearly killing him with that curse. Do you think you or Dumbledore, or the Order could help me rescue her?" Harry asked.

"I am aware of the location of Lady Malfoy. I was not aware that she was there against her will or that Mr. Malfoy was ready to ask our side for help. The Dark Lord has given him a task to do and I cannot help any further until I know what he is planning. If he were to confide in me and accept asylum, then I could have her out of there next weekend. Sooner if I didn't have to babysit insolent brats in detention every night," Snape answered.

"I don't think he's planning anything, sir. I don't think he knows how to deal with Voldemort. He's just scared and trying to act like he's brave," Harry replied.

"Then all the better, but I'll need him to confide in me and tell me everything he knows about the situation, before I retrieve Lady Malfoy."

"Great! I'll just go talk to him and get him to talk to you and then this whole mess will be straightened out," Harry said and turned to leave.

"Not so fast Mr. Potter. I believe there is still the matter of your detention," Snape said.

"But I need to go talk to Malfoy before he falls asleep. Sick people need their rest."

"I am aware of Mr. Malfoy's condition. I will let you leave an hour early tonight so that you may speak with him, but first you can start reading this book on defensive shields. I suggest you to take notes, because I will be expecting you to write an essay on this topic before your detentions are out. If you are not done with this book or the essay is not satisfactory, I will extend your stay in detention," Snape replied, indicating a rather large thick book he had out waiting for Harry.

"What about the cauldrons?" Harry asked. If Snape had this essay planned for him, why had he threatened him with manual labor?

"That was a test to see if I could get you to tell me the truth. Since I could not, I proceeded to plan B, the essay. Please take your seat Mr. Potter," Snape answered.

Harry huffed, before sitting down and getting to work. It was just like Snape to do something sneaky like this. But then Harry thought that writing this essay sounded worse that cleaning a few million cauldrons, so maybe Snape's ruse had backfired on him. Either way, Harry pulled out his parchment and quill, flipped open the book, and started reading.

True to his word, Snape let Harry go at nine and Harry headed straight to the library to find Ron and Hermione and see what potions they had found. When he got there, Ron was sitting at their usual table with his transfigurations essay out and barely started, while Hermione was nowhere to be seen.

"Hiya Ron. Where's Hermione?" Harry asked, sitting down next to his friend.

"She's in the back, looking for more books on healing. Why can't Madam Pomfrey cure the git? He deserves what he got after what he did to Katie and Hermione hasn't helped me a lick since she's been too busy trying to help Malfoy," Ron griped.

Ron had no idea just what Malfoy had got. Harry reminded himself of this fact as he controlled his urge to deck his best mate.

"Ron, Hermione can't write all your essays for you and I told you this before: Malfoy's strange behavior had nothing to do with what happened to Katie. Katie said herself that she doesn't remember who gave her that necklace and Malfoy never left the castle that day. There's no way he was involved. His mum's being held hostage by Voldemort. Cut him some slack, will you?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, alright. I'm just tired of looking through all these this transfigurations theory and I don't understand why Madam Pomfrey can't fix him!"

"I almost killed him Ron," Harry said gravely.

"I get that, I do. But he's in the hospital wing, there's nothing that we can do better than Madam Pomfrey."

"He won't tell her what's wrong. He doesn't want it getting out to Voldemort that I cursed him so badly. It'll make him look weak," Harry replied with a half-truth.

"Oh Harry, you're back early!" Hermione exclaimed, returning with a new stack of books.

"What'd you find Hermione?" Harry asked excitedly.

"Well I found a couple, but this potion here on top is your best bet. It'll cure most types of internal injuries," she replied, showing Harry her page of notes. "It shouldn't do any damage if it's not the one he needs and it's very common. Snape's sure to have it in his store-room, if Madam Pomfrey doesn't."

"Are you sure it'll work?" Ron asked.

"No. It's only a very mild restorative, so it might take a while to cure the damage if it's bad enough. If it's too severe, this potion might not work at all, but I think it's our best shot. Harry said Malfoy looks fine on the outside, but he hurts on the inside. That means Malfoy has internal injuries. This potion should work and if not, we can come back here tomorrow and look for more potions," Hermione replied.

"Thank you Hermione; you're a life-saver," Harry said hugging her.

"Anytime."

"Gotta run. See you back in the common room," Harry called, grabbing his bag with his cloak and the piece of paper that Hermione had written the potion information on and exiting the library.

Harry pulled out his cloak and slipped it on when he was sure that no one was looking and went first to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey was in her office, so Harry quietly slipped into her supply cabinet. There were potions everywhere, but eventually he found the one he was looking for. He slipped it inside his cloak and went back to Draco's bed, removing his cloak once he was safely tucked behind Draco's curtains.

"What the fuck, Potter? You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Draco exclaimed.

"Sorry," Harry apologized sheepishly. Maybe he should've taken the cloak off right outside the curtains, so as not to scare Malfoy. "I got the potion."

"What's it do?" Malfoy asked hesitantly, looking at the neon green potion Harry held up.

"Heals internal injuries. No real side effects and you should be good as new by morning," Harry replied, holding it out to give to Malfoy.

"What kind of side effects does it have?" Draco asked.

"Makes people swell up like a balloon if their allergic to dandelions. You're not allergic to dandelions, are you?" Harry asked, pulling the vial back towards him a bit and pushing the parchment with Hermione's notes towards Draco instead. Malfoy took the notes and read them for a few minutes, before handing the parchment back.

"Nope, I'll take it," Draco said, grabbing the vial. He uncorked it and downed the contents, before handing the vial and the cork back to Potter, who slipped them into his bag to dispose of later. He also slipped Hermione's notes back into his bag, in case he needed them again.

"Thanks Potter. You didn't tell anyone, did you?" Draco asked.

"No. I only told Ron and Hermione that you have some unnamed internal injury and I was looking up potions that might help you, because it was my fault," Harry replied.

"It was your fault," Draco said.

"I know," Harry said, feeling sorry for himself, because Malfoy apparently hadn't forgiven him yet. "But I talked to Snape and he said that he can help rescue your mum if you just tell him about some task Voldemort set you. You didn't tell me anything about a task."

"It's an impossible task. I was just hiding out in the room or requirement to make it look like I was working on it, when really I was trying to figure out a way to rescue mother. But I've obviously bollocks that up too, because I haven't found a way to save her."

"Well talk to Snape about it next time he comes in here, yeah? Then he can help. He said he could get your mum out this weekend. Without his help, I won't be able to make a move until next Hogsmeade weekend when I can leave the school. That's three weeks away."

"I don't trust him. He works for the Dark Lord."

"Yeah, but I overheard him tell you that he made an unbreakable vow to help you and protect you. I think he really means to help, whatever side he's on."

"Yeah, fine, I'll talk to him," Draco replied yawning. "It's freezing in here, could you ask Madam Pomfrey to turn up the heat or get me another blanket? I asked her before, but I'm still cold."

"Yeah, I'll go ask," Harry said, before going down the hall and fetching Madam Pomfrey, even though he thought it was rather warm in here. But then he wasn't the one wearing a hospital gown and stuck in bed all day. He had been running through the castle all day, so of course he was hot.

"I already turned up the heat and that's a down comforter on his bed," Madam Pomfrey said as she walked with Harry back to Malfoy's bed.

Malfoy was shivering in his sleep when they arrived. "He was awake just a minute ago!" Harry exclaimed.

Madam Pomfrey didn't like the looks of this. Her patient should have been sweating bullets, not shivering in this heat, plus he had fallen asleep so quickly. She got right to work casting diagnostic spells, trying to deduce what was wrong.

Harry was worried that the potion he had given Malfoy had caused this. He would have spilled his guts on the spot, but he had a feeling that the potion wasn't the cause. Malfoy said he was cold before Harry even arrived, long before he took the potion. And besides, he had promised Malfoy that he wouldn't tell and he wasn't going to break his promise, so he waited and fidgeted and waited some more. He watched as Madam Pomfrey went to her supply cabinet and came back with a yellow potion.

"Wake up Mr. Malfoy, I need you to take this," Madam Pomfrey said, shaking Malfoy's shoulder gently.

"Hmmm?" Draco murmured.

"You have a fever and an infection Mr. Malfoy. I need you to take this potion," Madam Pomfrey said.

'If it's an infection, then the potion I gave him had nothing to do with it. The internal injuries probably caused the infection, so my potion's probably helping,' Harry reasoned silently to himself. His reasoning just reaffirmed his earlier decision to keep quiet.

"What's-it?" Draco asked, slurring the words together in his state of half-sleep.

"It's an antibiotic potion mixed with a fever reducing potion. Open up," Madam Pomfrey replied.

Draco did as ordered and opened his mouth, swallowing it when Madam Pomfrey poured it into his mouth. Then he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

"Is he going to be okay?" Harry asked concerned.

"Oh, he'll be fine Mr. Potter. The infection was probably causing the unexplained pain. Now that I've got it taken care of, he should be better by morning. He might even make it to dinner tomorrow night, just in time for the weekend," she replied.

"Can I stay with him?" he asked hopefully. He had just gotten here and he wasn't ready to leave.

"No, it's late. You need to get back to Gryffindor tower and I have everything under control."

"Oh, alright. Can I just have a minute to say goodbye?" Harry asked.

Madam Pomfrey nodded, before heading back to her office. Harry watched her go and waited until he heard the click of her door closing behind her, before standing up and looking down over Malfoy's bed. "I'll be back tomorrow. Just concentrate on feeling better and Snape and I'll take care of your mum," he said, before bending down and placing a soft kiss to Malfoy's forehead. Then he picked up his bag, stuffing his invisibility cloak further inside, before leaving.

* * *

Author's Note: Draco will be getting better now :)


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: Yet another one where no censorship was needed. If I didn't know better, I'd say this story really isn't that mature after all…but I do know better, because the lemons are still to come.

* * *

"It's Quidditch practice tonight," Ginny reminded Harry at breakfast the next morning.

"Yeah, I know, but I won't be able to make it, not with Snape's detentions. You can handle it for me- I trust you," Harry replied.

"Yeah and if any blockheads get out of line, I got your back," Ron added.

"Are you gonna be able to play at all? What about our next match? Should I be practicing to fill your spot?" Ginny asked.

"I'll be able to play Gin. I plan on spending loads of time practicing this weekend," Harry replied.

"Well maybe we should move our Friday practice to Saturday, that way you can do some more coaching," Ginny suggested.

"That'd be fantastic! Gin, you're great at this team captain thing; you're coming up with great ideas already," Harry replied.

"Thanks, but I'm just filling in for you until you get out of detention, not taking your job," Ginny replied.

After that Harry concentrated on eating for a few minutes, but his attention was once again caught by a conversation occurring around him at the Gryffindor table.

"Yeah, it was awesome! There's so much owl shite all over the place that it takes Filch hours to clean! Snape fixed it yesterday, but I'm gonna set off another explosion tonight," Seamus was saying.

"Oi! Seamus, _I_ had to clean up all that owl shite and I'll have to clean it up again if you do that," Harry said.

"Sorry Harry, I'd forgotten about your detentions," Seamus replied.

"Well I have three hours' worth every day for the next month, so I'd prefer it, if all of you'd stay out of trouble and not make any messes for me to clean by hand," Harry replied.

"That's rough. It's too bad that Snape was the one who found you. If it'd been Hagrid, you'd've gotten off a lot lighter," Dean chipped in.

"No, I'm lucky it was Snape, because he knew the counter curse to the curse I used, when I didn't even know what that curse did. If it would've been any other professor, Malfoy would've died and I'd be expelled by now," Harry replied.

"How is Malfoy? He's still not sitting at the Slytherin table," Neville said.

"He was worse last night. He had an infection, but now that Madam Pomfrey figured that out and treated it, he should be better soon," Harry replied.

"An infection! Blimey Harry, how'd he get an infection?" Neville asked.

"Yeah, infections are really rare in the wizarding world," Seamus added.

"Well I cut open his chest in the middle of the boy's dirty bathroom! And Snape knitted it back together right there too. I'd like to see you survive that and not get a little sick," Harry replied.

"Let the man eat, we've got to get to class," Ron said, indicating Harry's barely touched bowl of oatmeal. Ron himself was on his third helping.

And so Harry scarfed down the remainder of his breakfast before dashing off with Ron and Hermione to transfigurations. After that he had a free period, so he decided to check on Malfoy in the hospital wing.

"How're you feeling?" Harry asked.

"Brilliant! Madam Pomfrey's gonna let me go today," Draco replied, sitting up in bed now that he had someone to talk to. "Maybe I'll make it down to lunch in the Great Hall." There was only an hour left until lunch, but he felt great and Madam Pomfrey should release him any minute now.

"Really? No more fever or infection?" Harry asked concerned.

"Nope. I passed all her little medical tests this morning," Draco answered. He left out that he had passed all her medical tests every morning, but that was because she hadn't been checking him for possible infections.

"Then why hasn't she let you go yet?" Harry asked. "You could've gone to your morning class."

"Um…" Draco didn't really want to tell Potter this part. He was embarrassed.

"What, didn't that potion I gave you work?" Harry whispered. He didn't want Madam Pomfrey to overhear.

"No, it's working, I can tell," Draco reluctantly admitted. He didn't want Potter to know this personal information, but unfortunately, Potter already knew most of it.

"Then what is it?" Harry asked.

"I fell again, alright? Happy now?" Draco asked annoyed, but determined that he wasn't going to start crying again, especially not in front of Potter. He had done too much of that the day before.

"You fell?" Harry repeated, not knowing what else to say.

"Yeah, Professor Snape came by to get me out of bed and I thought I could do it…" Draco trailed off.

"And you fell," Harry finished for him.

"Yeah, but I did a lot better. I got halfway across the room this time," Draco said.

"That's good," Harry replied. "I'm sure you'll be on your feet again in no time. That potion just needed a little more time to work."

"Yeah probably. I'm hoping I'll be out by lunch, but listen Potter, you can't keep coming to see me: I've got an image to protect," Draco said.

"Oh, you don't want to be seen with me, I get it," Harry said, not really getting it. Why was Malfoy willing to kiss him and be wanked by him, but didn't want to be seen with him? 'It must be the blood purity thing.'

"As long as mother is still in the hands of the Dark Lord, I can't have anyone knowing that I don't completely hate you," Draco said. He wasn't sure how he felt about Potter. He hated what Potter did to him in the loo, but Potter wanted to help rescue his mother and that went a long way with him; less that complete hate seemed to sum up those feelings nicely.

"You're worried about the other Slytherins reporting back to their Death Eater parents and Voldemort finding out?" Harry asked, finally getting it.

"Yeah, of course I am! Everything I do gets back to father and the Dark Lord. It's like our old defense teacher always said, 'Constant vigilance.' I have to constantly pick fights and insult the right people or they'll find out," Draco said.

Suddenly it all clicked for Harry: Malfoy was putting on an act most of the time. He was towing the Death Eater Spawn line in public, but in private he didn't really seem to care about all that blood purity nonsense. "You don't care about the pureblood thing?" Harry asked amazed, just to make sure he had interpreted Malfoy's statement correctly.

"Yes I still care about pureblood standards. No one is ever gonna want to marry me now that I'm not a virgin. There was a reason I was saving myself for marriage!" Draco hissed.

"Oh," Harry said, not knowing how to respond to that.

"Wanking is one thing, but I would've never agreed to penetration, even if my mother wasn't in danger."

"Um, sorry. I didn't know. Are all pure-bloods virgins until their wedding day?" Harry asked curiously.

"No, not all of us, but you don't get the good contracts if you're not. Just look at what happened to Vincent's mum- she's smart, pretty, and from a good family, but word got out she was a slag and she ended up having to settle for Mr. Crabbe and got landed with Vincent. She's not even his real mum; Aurors killed his real mum and Mr. Crabbe was so desperate to have a wife to look after the baby that he settled for Mrs. Crabbe. I don't want that to happen to me," Draco replied.

"I don't want that to happen to you either, but I don't understand the bit about contracts," Harry admitted.

"Marriage contracts. They say how much assets each party brings into the marriage from their parents and what they stand to inherit and what not. Being the only heir to the Malfoy estate, I could've gotten any wizard I wanted, even with a Death Eater father, but now, no one is gonna want me," Draco replied.

"I still want you. Can I put in for a contract?" Harry asked. He still hadn't given much thought to the whole being gay thing- he knew now that he was gay, but hadn't thought about marrying a man- but he was attracted to Malfoy, he felt bad for what he had done, and he wanted to make it right.

"Yeah, anyone can. Just have your lawyer send it over to my lawyer. Father's still in Azkaban, so any decision will have to wait until he gets out and he's not gonna accept a contract from you as long as the Dark Lord is still around. Is doesn't do to marry your heir off to a marked man." Draco didn't know why he was telling Potter all of this. Odds were that the Dark Lord would kill Potter soon and that he would never get around to putting together a marriage contract, and in that case, it wouldn't really matter what he told Potter. On the other hand, if it went the other way and Potter won, then he'd be the savior of the wizarding world. Being married to the savior of the wizarding world sounded better than being the son of Death Eaters, even if said savior had raped him.

"Won't my dirty blood taint your family's name?" Harry asked, still confused over the pureblood thing. 'Why isn't Malfoy more concerned about it?'

"No, father did a pretty good job of tainting our name himself. If the Dark Lord wins, the best case scenario is that we get mother back and the three of us go into hiding; father's still out of favor with him and once he finds out that I've failed my task…well, there's no recovering from that. On the other hand, if you kill him, then the best case scenario would involve marrying me off to someone on your side of the war and trying to save face."

"So my celebrity makes up for my blood status?" Harry asked flippantly, rethinking his chivalrous attitude. He didn't want Malfoy if Malfoy wanted him because he was the bloody boy who lived.

"To father, it goes a long ways. To mother and the rest of the family, the sheer quantity of magic you possess qualifies you as pureblooded, because it's not just about not marrying muggles. Your mum was muggle-born, not muggle, and you're very powerful; grandfather would say your blood is pure enough."

"And that's what's most important?" Harry asked, annoyed with Malfoy again.

"No, that's what's most important to them. I've always wanted to marry for love, but I probably won't live that long," Draco replied sadly. The Dark Lord would kill him and his mother just as soon as he finds out about what happened in that loo.

"Great!" Harry exclaimed, relieved and happy to hear how Malfoy really felt about blood purity. "So I'll have a contract made up and send it over to your parents just as soon as I take care of Voldemort."

"You'd seriously consider that?" Draco asked perplexed. He still didn't know if he wanted Potter to. Potter had just done the most awful thing that had ever happened to him and now he was talking about asking his parents to marry him? This just didn't make sense.

"Yeah…um, I fancy you," Harry answered. He was hesitant to admit it, but Malfoy just looked so hurt and vulnerable that Harry didn't think he would get it thrown back in his face. Besides, after what happened in the bathroom, it was pretty clear that Harry fancied him, although it did take Harry a bit of thinking about it to admit it to himself. The only thing that was still bothering him was what to call Malfoy. He didn't feel right referring to him by his last name anymore, but Malfoy hadn't said it was okay to call him Draco either. And after the incident in the bathroom, Harry didn't want to take any liberties with him.

"You've a funny way of showing it," Draco replied curtly.

"Yeah, I know. But I said I would make it up to you; I'm still gonna help rescue your mum," Harry replied.

"Yeah?" Draco's mood lifted a bit when he thought about seeing his mother soon.

"Did you talk with Snape? Is he gonna help?" Harry asked. The quickest way to get Malfoy's mum away from Voldemort was for Snape to do it.

"Yeah, I talked to him this morning. We agreed that he'd retrieve mother this weekend and take her to your house to hide out," Draco answered.

"Did you tell him about the task?" Harry asked. He still didn't know what the task was and he was hoping Malfoy would tell him, but he also didn't want to pry if Malfoy didn't want to share. He was curious, but he also didn't want to lose ground by being too nosey.

"Yeah, but I didn't have any working plans. He said not to worry and that he'd do it himself," Draco replied, trying not to give too much away. He deliberately left out the part about how he had told Professor Snape about how he imperiused Madam Rosmerta. Professor Snape said he would take care of it and modify Madam Rosmerta's memory so that she wouldn't remember any of it.

Draco had told Professor Snape about his failed attempts with the vanishing cabinet and Professor Snape had told Draco that it'd be easier if Professor Snape just Avada'ed the old man himself. They'd both have to go into hiding from the Order after that, so his professor wanted to wait until the end of the school year to do it. Draco had been worried that that would just put him and his mother back in the hands of the Dark Lord, but Professor Snape had suggested that they turn their villa in France into their own fidelius safe house. He and mother would go there and hide out until the end of the war and Professor Snape would go off to join the Dark Lord by himself.

"Well then everything's settled," Harry concluded.

"Yeah. I'm hoping that Professor Snape'll take me to see mother as soon as he rescues her. He said he'd take me if Dumbledore allows it," Draco replied.

"If he doesn't, I'll talk Dumbledore into it. I've got an in with the old man," Harry said smiling.

"Brilliant!" Draco exclaimed, before thinking better of it. "Don't go telling the old man about us- or any of your little friends for that matter- we can be civil to each other in private, but in public, I still hate your guts and want to feed them to blast ended skrewts. I suggest you do the same."

"Well can we at least meet in secret?" Harry asked hopefully. He was enjoying his little talks with Malfoy and he didn't want to pretend that they had never come to an understanding. Malfoy was hot and he wanted a chance to work up to asking him out on a date.

"Not unless something important happens that we absolutely need to talk about, like if mother's in danger," Draco replied. He didn't know where this- whatever it was- with Potter was going, but he didn't want to set himself up for more trouble. What if Potter tried to rape him again? Or kiss him? Potter was hot and there was no reason to encourage him when the Dark Lord was still a very real threat.

"Okay, but maybe we can have some secret way of signaling the other that we need to talk? I want to hear how your mum's doing once Snape rescues her," Harry said thinking about the charmed fake galleons Hermione had made for Dumbledore's army.

"Maybe. What do you have in mind?" Draco asked hesitantly.

Harry told Malfoy about the charmed coins and Malfoy agreed to take one, so Harry ran up to the Gryffindor common room to find Hermione and get her to make a special pair of coins for him and Malfoy. Hermione did and Harry ran back down to the hospital wing to deliver Malfoy's coin to him, before joining his friends for lunch and heading to his afternoon class. After class he worked on homework, before heading to dinner.

Dinner was a bit of a shock, because Draco was newly returned to sitting at the Slytherin table. Everyone was crowding around him and asking him questions regarding his injury; they all seemed to want to know what curse Harry had used and the details of his near-death experience. Draco seemed to be eating the attention up, retelling the gory details of the sectumsempra curse, but not mentioning any of the rest of it. Harry even heard him mention something about what his father would do as soon as he breaks out of Azkaban.

Harry tried his best to ignore Draco, knowing that it was all an act, but he bumped into him when he got up to go to Snape's detention.

"Oi, watch it Scar-head! If you run me over I might have a relapse and die for real this time," Draco snapped. It felt good to be back on normal ground where he could insult Potter freely.

"Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going," Harry replied, not quite knowing what to say. Should he insult Malfoy back? That seemed a bit uncalled for seeing as Draco was barely out of the hospital wing after a near-death experience he had caused.

"Of course not. You never do. My father should've gotten rid of you when he had the chance," Draco said, giving Potter an easy one. It was a perfect set up for Potter to mention how father was in Azkaban thanks to him and his little army.

"Yeah, but I gotta run or I'll be late for Snape's detention," Harry replied, ducking away and heading to Snape's office. That was a bit awkward, but at least he got away from Malfoy without insulting him or obviously not insulting him.

Draco was left flabbergasted in the Great Hall. He had given Potter the perfect set up and he hadn't taken it. Maybe Potter really did like him…well if that was the case, he was going to have to arrange another one of their little meetings to have a chat with him about keeping face in public. Potter would have to continue to fight with him until the end of term at least, even if his mother were rescued this weekend. His dorm mates wouldn't be such docile little lambs if they didn't think he was the lead Death Eater among their group. He could be cursed in his sleep if the Carrow girls found out… Hestia and her sister Flora were next in line and were already talking about taking the mark as soon as term ended.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Notes: No censorship was needed in this chapter.

* * *

Harry spent Saturday studying, doing homework, practicing Quidditch, and in detention. Snape was away rescuing Malfoy's mum, so Harry served detention with Professor McGonagall, who was more than happy to leave Harry to reading the huge book on defensive shields while she graded papers. Harry was making real progress, mostly because the book seemed like it would be really useful in battle. It covered every type of defensive shield there was and detailed how to perform them and when best to use each one as well as the theory behind each. The theory was dull and dry and Harry had a bit of a time getting through it, but he got through the more relevant stuff easily enough. Professor McGonagall even let him practice the spells during detention and Snape let him practice and gave him pointers when needed; Friday's detention with Snape had included a little dueling session. Over all, detention wasn't turning out to be as bad as he thought.

So Harry was hard at work all of Saturday and barely had time to think about Malfoy, but when he did think about him, he couldn't help the smile from forming on his face. Malfoy had already signaled him that he wanted to meet, via their charmed coins. It would be a tight squeeze, in between detention, Quidditch practice, homework, and studying, but Harry managed to secure a block of time to meet with Malfoy. He wanted to meet in the room of requirement, because it would be private, but Malfoy suggested meeting in the defense classroom instead and letting Snape supervise. The last person Harry wanted to let listen in on his private life was Snape, but Malfoy had insisted, plus it would be convenient, because he had another detention to serve with Snape anyway. Harry resolved to make do with the meeting in Snape's prescience and watch what he said.

Draco had a huge smile on his face when he stepped into the defense classroom to find Potter sitting at a desk, reading, and Professor Snape grading essays at the front of the room. Dumbledore himself had taken him to Order headquarters that morning and he had spent the entire day with his mother! Snape had rescued her last night, so she was finally safe and he officially didn't have to worry anymore. The Black house was more run-down than he remembered, but mother wouldn't have to stay there long, because Professor Snape promised to set up the fidelius charm on the villa in France for mother. Very soon he and mother would no longer be caught in the middle of the blasted war, not to mention he had seen his mother, who he hadn't seen since the winter holidays. Mother was a wonderful person and had a very calming influence on him. She spent the day holding him and singing to him like when he was little, which was just what he needed to calm his frayed nerves after everything that had happened recently.

"Good day Potter," Draco greeted happily.

"Hi, you seem happy," Harry replied.

"I am. I just got back from seeing mother," Draco replied.

"That's great!" Harry exclaimed. "She's alright, right?"

"Yeah, she's good."

"Brilliant," Harry said, but wasn't sure what else to say. He didn't know what Malfoy wanted to talk to him about and he didn't want to bring up much in front of Snape, but he also didn't want to end this little chat and go back to studying.

"Yeah, so listen Potter, you need to work on insulting me more. Just because you helped arrange this thing with mother doesn't mean that it's safe for us to be friends. I sleep in a room full of the children of Death Eaters," Draco said, getting to his point.

"Oh…" Harry said. He hadn't really thought about that, but now it made perfect sense; Malfoy was still in danger if his dorm mates found out about their friendship. Was it friendship? Harry wanted it to be more than friendship, but friendship was a good start.

"So just call me a stupid ferret and Death Eater Spawn and stuff," Draco added.

"Got it, fight with you whenever we meet in public and say nasty stuff. Should I hit you or hex you?" Harry asked.

"Whatever you do, don't hit me anymore! You Gryffindors are awful with your muggle fighting. You really hurt me last time," Draco told him honestly. He didn't like muggle fighting at all. The only good part about it was that it meant Harry was touching him and paying attention to him.

"Sorry," Harry replied sheepishly.

"You can hex me, but keep it light, like Levicorpus and the like," Draco replied.

"Okay, innocent stuff that doesn't hurt, like Expelliarmus," Harry replied.

"Yeah, good. I'll see you around then Potter," Draco said, turning to leave.

"Malfoy?" Harry stopped him.

"Yeah?"

"Um, if you ever want to talk…like about all this secret stuff or anything…you can um…just use your coin," Harry suggested nervously. He was worried Malfoy would turn him down flat and want nothing more to do with him.

"Yeah, okay then," Draco replied. He didn't think he would want to talk to Potter again, but Potter looked so hopeful that he didn't want to crush him; not right now when he was in such a good mood, having spent the day with mother. Crushing Potter could wait until later.

"Bye," Harry call out as Malfoy turned to leave. Malfoy didn't say anything more, he just kept walking.

Snape waited until the door was firmly shut behind Malfoy, before speaking. "Mr. Potter, if you insist on taking up a relationship with Mr. Malfoy, I suggest you work on your occlumency, for his sake. The Dark Lord will likely read your mind before he kills you and I would prefer it if he does not go after Mr. Malfoy when he is done with you."

"I'm pants at occlumency and you know it," Harry replied testily. He knew Snape was right, that he needed occlumency, but the last thing he wanted was more occlumency lessons with Snape.

"Language Mr. Potter. Perhaps this book on learning occlumency might help," Snape said handing over a small book he had acquired specifically for Potter. He didn't want to teach the brat again, but Ms. Granger could probably tutor him with the help of the book.

"Thank you, sir," Harry replied taking the book. Now he had one more thing to work on and keep him busy, but at least he had a chance of keeping Malfoy safe and protected. Maybe he could get Hermione to help him.

Harry went back to studying and finished his Sunday detention exhausted, so he went straight to his bed in the Gryffindor tower and went to sleep. He didn't have set plans to meet with him, but he was optimistic that Malfoy would contact him and arrange another meeting, so he resolved to keep busy and up on his homework and his studying; that way he would have time to meet with Malfoy during the week. And if not, he could always spend the extra time at Quidditch practice. He was missing their regular meet-up times, but he was team captain, so he could arrange to have a practice before dinner if he wanted.

Harry ran into Malfoy in the hallway before lunch and had a rather interesting sparing match. Malfoy had called him Scar-head again and Harry had called Malfoy a ferrety Death Eater and they had exchanged mild curses. It was Harry's first real experience with acting. He was a bit stiff with it at first, but by the end of it he had really got into it. Snape had even joined in and given them both detention and a stern warning against dueling in the hallways. Harry already had detention with Snape, of course, but now Malfoy would have one with him. Harry wasn't sure if Snape was going to add on an extra detention for him to serve after he finishes the first month. Since Snape was in on the act, he was hoping not, but knowing Snape, Harry thought he probably would end up with the extra day of detention. Either way, the thought of the fake fight with Malfoy kept bringing a smile to his face.

Draco didn't plan on contacting Potter any time soon, but he found himself thinking about him more than he should and not it a way that he ought to be thinking about Potter either. Now that his body was healed, his sexual urges were back and those thoughts all seemed to revolve around Potter and the way it felt when he kissed him in the bathroom…before the rape. Of course thoughts of Potter kissing him always led back to thoughts of the rape and that is where his sexual thoughts ended, so he tried not to think about that as much as possible. But his sixth year dorm mates were constantly going on about snogging, dating, and courting, so it was hard for Draco to escape it. Thus Draco found himself somewhat looking forward to his detention with Professor Snape and his chance to see Potter again. Maybe he would take Potter up on his offer to talk.

Draco had already arranged a tutoring session with Professor Binns for Monday night. He was planning on getting a NEWT in history of magic, but was way behind in that class, thanks to his worry over his mother. History of magic was an easy class for him, so he was hoping that with a little tutoring he would catch right up. Thus Professor Snape didn't make Draco serve his detention until Tuesday night. And Draco, unlike Potter, only had one hour to serve.

"In the interest of not blasting the castle walls apart, I am ordering the two of you to talk through your differences for tonight's detention. Mr. Potter, you may resume your studying after Mr. Malfoy leaves. I will cast a silencing charm so that I do not have to listen to your drivel," Snape said before casting a silencing charm on the boys and grading papers at his desk.

And that is how Harry found himself having a private conversation in the defense classroom with Draco Malfoy. "So um, I guess we should talk," Harry broke the ice.

"What about Potter?" Draco asked curiously. He didn't know where to start.

"Well, why don't you tell me about your friends? What do the lot of you get up to in the dungeons?" Harry asked.

"Well Theo and Daphne have been rather sickening this week," Draco started.

"Daphne? Which one is that?" Harry asked. He was pretty sure Theo was Nott's first name. He was the quiet fifth Slytherin boy, but he couldn't place the name Daphne.

"Daphne Greengrass, the pretty blond in our year. I went out with her little sister Astoria a few times. Father wanted us to get betrothed, so I tried it, but kissing a witch was just…eww."

Now that Harry thought about it, there was a pretty blond that hung out with Parkinson and Bullstrode. "So what have Nott and Greengrass been doing that's so sickening?" Harry wondered. He also wanted to know more about Malfoy's dating history and sexual preference, but he wasn't quite ready to ask.

"Snogging mostly, but also talk of betrothals and marriage contracts. They used to ask me last year why I wasn't working harder on my own marriage contract, but now that father is in Azkaban, I have a good excuse: I can't move forward until he gets out," Draco replied.

"Oh… do they know that you um…?" Harry asked, trailing off at the end.

"That I'm a ponce?" Draco asked and Harry nodded. "Yeah, they know. I told them all last year when I broke things off with Astoria. She's a nice witch and I didn't want her to think that there was something wrong with her. There are lots of other wizards out there that would love to have someone like her. Father didn't just pick some floozy for me to court."

"Oh…"

"What about you? Do your friends know?"

"No, I barely even figured it out," Harry admitted.

"You didn't know?" Draco asked perplexed. If Potter didn't know he liked wizards, why did Harry kiss him? Why did he rape him?

"No. I knew I liked you when I kissed you, but it wasn't until later when I thought about what happened that I realized that I must be."

"And before that?"

"I went along with what I was supposed to do. I had a little crush on Cho Chang, but that was a disaster. Lately I was thinking about Ginny…"

"The Weasley girl?" Draco asked interrupting with a sneer. The Weasley girl was the last person he would consider dating.

"Yeah, but after last week I realized that I don't like her in the same way I like you. I feel protective over her, like a sister. I really hate when her boyfriends don't treat her right, but that passion I have with you isn't there…" Harry trailed off, thinking that he was saying too much.

"Passion huh, eh Potter?" Draco asked, feeling a bit smug. First Potter had admitted that he fancied him and now he was admitting to feeling passion too.

"Yeah," Harry replied blushing and suddenly finding his shoes fascinating. They were old and worn.

"I'm not sure I could survive anymore of your passion," Draco said. Part of him was happy to know that Potter felt passionate about him and part of him wanted to push him away so that he wouldn't get hurt again. Maybe his self-preservation instinct would have stood a better chance if Potter wasn't so hot when he was passionate or if Draco didn't crave Potter's attention like he did.

"I've been trying to make it up to you," Harry replied.

"I know. You got me the potion and lent me your house to hide mother," Draco conceded. Potter had done those things, but it still wasn't enough for Draco to just be able to forget what had happened.

"How is she? Voldemort didn't hurt her, did he?" Harry asked. Draco had told him that his mum was safe before, but they hadn't had long to talk about it and he wanted to make sure that she hadn't been injured in any way.

"She's fine, he didn't hurt her."

"Really?" Harry found it hard to believe that Voldemort could hold someone captive and not harm them.

"Yeah, he was using her as leverage, so he didn't touch her. She told me she didn't like it there, because sometimes she could hear muggles screaming. She's got a big heart and that sort of thing bothers her." It bothered him too, but he was trying not to admit that to anyone.

"What about when it's your dad doing it?"

"He never did it near mother."

"But she knew, right?"

"Yeah, she knew. What's it to you anyway?" Draco asked annoyed with all the questions. Just because his mother knew didn't mean she could've stopped it or done anything about it. She chose to stand by father and her family; her parents were still alive during the first war and they supported Voldemort. And most importantly, mother chose to protect her son, by keeping the family together.

"I was just curious," Harry replied as Snape ended the silencing charm.

Snape excused Malfoy, because the hour was up, so Harry was left to his reading alone. After detention Harry went up to the Gryffindor tower and straight to bed. That night Harry dreamed of wanking Malfoy and woke up with a rather wet and messy problem in his pants. He cleaned himself up and went back to sleep, but he officially had to admit it to himself that the thought of wanking Malfoy was hot.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Notes: No censorship was needed in this chapter.

* * *

With his developing relationship with a boy, Harry wished there was someone he could turn to for advice. And since he didn't know of anyone bent he could turn to, he thought of what Hermione would do in this situation, which was go to the library and look for a book. But he didn't want to be caught in the library looking up gay books, because he wasn't ready to explain to anyone why he would need such a book. Plus he was hoping for a book with details of the type he thought were unlikely to be available in the school library. Particularly, he wanted information on the right way to have gay sex, because he didn't think the pain and bleeding was supposed to happen. Harry would need an adult to get him a book like that, which made him think of Fred and George Weasley, even though they weren't bent.

Harry was a little bit hesitant to ask Fred and George for help, because he was sure they would make fun of him. They were bound to have a ton of gay jokes to tease him with this summer. But Harry didn't have any parents or parental figures to turn to and he was even more embarrassed at the thought of asking Ron's parents or a teacher about it; talking to adults about sex was _scary_. Harry was stuck at school and couldn't get to a book store. And since Fred and George were younger more approachable adults, plus they were loyal and trustworthy, Harry felt he could turn to them. And he thought they would be willing to get him the type of book he wanted, even if they didn't have any experience in the subject, because they felt they owed Harry a favor for giving them all that start-up money for their shop. Harry decided to risk it and owl them for help. Thus on Wednesday, Harry wrote a letter to George and Fred and snuck off before breakfast to the owlery alone to mail it, hoping that this wouldn't get back to Ron.

"Where'd you go this morning?" Ron asked when Harry sat down next to him in the Great Hall, pulling some toast onto his plate.

"I went to visit Hedwig. I took her some treats," Harry replied. It was true enough, because he had given her a few treats before he sent her off with the roll of parchment.

Ron bought it and proceeded to tell him about the fight between Dean and Seamus that he had missed. Ron, being a prefect, broke it up and was rather proud of himself. Harry tried to listen to his story, but his attention was drawn once more to Malfoy, sitting across the hall at the Slytherin table. Malfoy received a letter and Harry thought that it was probably from his mum, but then he saw Malfoy glance up at the head table nervously, like something was wrong. Professor Snape caught his eye and then they both got up and left the Great Hall in a hurry.

"I'll meet you in transfigurations," Harry whispered to Hermione, grabbing his backpack and pulling out his invisibility cloak.

Harry waited until he was out of sight in the corridor to put his cloak on and then followed Malfoy and Snape into an empty classroom. He removed his cloak and went in. Malfoy had given his letter to Professor Snape, who was reading it.

"What is it? Is it about your mum?" Harry asked Malfoy.

"Yeah, the Dark Lord noticed she's gone," Draco answered.

"Mr. Potter, why do you always insert yourself into every situation where there is the least bit of trouble? You would get into a lot less of it, if you managed to stay out of it and not go looking for it," Professor Snape said, looking up from the note.

"I agreed to help Malfoy with this, to make up for nearly killing him," Harry protested.

"There is not much that a child can do," Snape replied.

"But what's happening? Is Voldemort going to come after Draco and his mum? Does he know you were involved?" Harry asked, thinking that Snape's position as a spy had been compromised.

"He does not know that I was involved and he cannot reach Lady Malfoy or Mr. Malfoy, at the moment. The best thing for the two of you to do is to go to class and act normal, especially you Mr. Potter. Mr. Malfoy I can excuse, but you I cannot and it will look suspicious if you both show up late to class."

"Fine, but can we meet after class to talk about this?" Harry asked Malfoy.

"Yeah," Draco replied. He wasn't sure what there was to talk about with Potter, but he wanted to get rid of him, so he could talk to Professor Snape.

Harry left and since he still had fifteen minutes to get to class, he went back into the Great Hall and grabbed another piece of toast to eat on the way.

"Where'd you go? Why'd you run out of here like that?" Ron asked, walking beside him.

"I'll tell you later," Harry replied, taking his usual seat. He would have to think of something to tell Ron and he would have to come up with a place to meet Malfoy. He thought that Draco might back out if they met somewhere too private, but he didn't want too many people around to overhear.

Malfoy arrived late, but only five minutes late and he had a note from Snape. Harry tried to pretend like he wasn't obsessed with Malfoy, but he spent the whole class period thinking about him. He finally decided to go with the library for their meeting. After class he pulled out his coin, tapped it, and the words, "Library now," appeared on it. He slipped the coin back into his pocket before Ron noticed, but Hermione saw and gave him a look.

"What's going on? Are you going to tell us now?" Ron asked, noticing the look between Harry and Hermione.

"I don't know yet, but I need to go to the library to find out," Harry replied.

"That's a good idea, because we should get started on our essay for herbology," Hermione replied and Ron groaned.

The three of them walked to the library and as they walked, Harry felt the heat of the coin in his pocket. He discretely pulled it out while Ron was looking the other way, just enough to see that it read, "Yes," and slipped it back into his pocket. The three of them found a table in the back and Harry cast a silencing charm, so that no one could hear him.

"What's happening?" Hermione asked.

"Malfoy is meeting me here to tell me. It's something to do with Snape rescuing his mum from Voldemort. I saw him get a letter and then he and Snape left in a hurry. I followed them and got that much of it and Malfoy agreed to meet me here," Harry explained.

"Well Ron and I should get to work picking out some books, so we don't look suspicious," Hermione suggested, getting up from the table.

Ron grumbled, but followed and Harry ended the silencing charm as he saw Draco enter the library. Draco put his school bag down on a table on the other side of the library. He headed towards Harry, but kept going until he was in the furthest back stack in the library. Harry got up and followed and Draco cast several privacy and silencing spells on them before he spoke.

"Okay, what do you want?" Draco asked.

"To know what's going on and how I can help."

"The Dark Lord knows my mother left and is mad, but doesn't know that we had anything to do with it. In fact, the Dark Lord didn't even send me that letter, father did. The Dark Lord told him that mother is gone and he wrote me, asking if I knew what was going on or where mother is. He advised me to play my part with the Dark Lord, even though the Dark Lord no longer has mother, because the Dark Lord's still in control of his freedom and how well he gets treated."

"What about Professor Snape? Is Voldemort going to find out he was involved?"

"Not as far as I know; he told me he covered his tracks."

"What did he say we should do?"

"He said I need to write my father back. I'm to lie and say I don't know where mother is and that I'm working hard on the Dark Lord's project. I'm making real progress and hope to have it completed soon," Draco said, his lips trembling on the last part. He had never lied to father before and it seemed an impossible task to convince his father that he had almost finished a project that he wasn't even working on and had no hope of completing. The only thing that gave him any hope was that he would only be communicating with father through owl and he wouldn't have to lie to father's face.

"It's gonna be okay," Harry said comfortingly, putting his hand on Malfoy's shoulder. He saw Hermione glance down their isle and was glad that Malfoy had cast the notice-me-not charm, so that she wouldn't see how close they were getting. "Snape said Voldemort can't touch you or your mum."

"Yeah, I know," Malfoy replied, putting on a brave face.

"Can I help you write the letter?"

"Professor Snape said he'd look over it before I send it."

"Yeah, but I could help too. You could bounce ideas off of me," Harry suggested.

"Yeah, but not here; there are too many people and your friends are here."

"How about after class?"

"Yeah, but not today. I've too much homework tonight," Draco said.

"Tomorrow then."

"Where?"

"We could meet in the room of requirement," Harry suggested, ready to take it back if Draco balked at the idea, but not sure where else they could go. Maybe outside, but it was still cold out.

"Yeah, okay."

Harry wanted to shout in excitement, but he kept his cool and just nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow at three?"

"Yeah," Draco replied, before casting finite on all the concealment and silencing charms and leaving.

Harry went back to the desk where Ron and Hermione were sorting through books. He cast another silencing charm before speaking. "He got a letter from his dad asking if he knows where his mum is. All he has to do is write back and say no," Harry revealed.

"That's great!" Hermione replied.

"Yeah mate," Ron added.

The three of them set to work on their herbology essay after that. Then they went to lunch and charms. Harry was finally caught up on his homework, so he called the Quidditch team together and moved the Wednesday practice from after dinner to before dinner. Practice went well and he was happy to see how well Ginny was doing whipping the team into shape for the big game. After Quidditch was dinner and then detention, again, with Snape, followed by bed and classes the next day.

And then classes were over and it was _finally_ time to meet Malfoy in the room of requirement. Harry was so excited that he went straight there after herbology. Malfoy must've gotten there first, because a door was already there and waiting for him. He opened it to find a room with one large table, like the ones in the library, and two comfy looking chairs.

"Hi," Harry said, walking in and sitting down in the open chair.

"Hello," Draco replied. He was nervous about meeting with Potter, but he was also nervous about writing this letter to his father. And he had Greg and Vince in a nearby classroom waiting for his signal, if he needed help with Potter, although he hadn't told him that he was meeting Potter. He could perform the protean charm himself and had a set of charmed coins that he used to signal his friends. He kept his wand and the coin in his left hand, just in case.

"So what do you have so far?" Harry asked.

"Nothing. I don't know where to start."

"Where do you normally start?"

"Normally I'm not writing to father about my missing mother and our service to the Dark Lord," Draco retorted, but then calmed down a bit and tried to focus. "Normally I tell him how school's going and ask how he's doing."

"Good, start with that."

Draco wrote a few lines telling his father that he was doing better. He hadn't written his father in so long that he couldn't even remember if he had told father how poorly he was doing in his classes this year. If that was the case, he didn't want father to read the letter and think he was doing better than last year, so he made sure to qualify his optimism with phrases like, "If I keep on improving at this rate, I might just pass all my classes this year." And while he was at it, he mentioned that he had a new plan for the cabinet that was going well. He didn't add any detail, knowing that father would know what he was talking about and no one else, including Potter, would.

"Okay, I've written about how I'm doing well," Draco said, looking up from his parchment.

"So now you need to write about your mum. It needs to be shocked and worried," Harry replied.

It took them ten minutes of talking it through to come up with something to write, but they did. Draco finished this part with, "Please inform me _immediately_ if you find out where mother is. I'll find a way to leave school to retrieve her." He thought it sounded convincing and Potter agreed, so then he just added a short question asking, "When do you think you will be home? I need you to help me look for mother," and then he signed it.

"There, do you want to read it over?" Draco asked, hoping he was done with the awful thing.

"Yeah, can I?" Harry asked. It was a private letter to Malfoy's dad, so he didn't want to intrude if Draco didn't want him to read it.

"Yeah," Draco replied, handing the parchment over.

Harry read it and thought it sounded fairly convincing to him. There was a reference to a cabinet that he didn't understand, but he didn't want to be nosey, so he didn't ask. "It's good," he said when he finished reading it.

"Yeah?" Draco asked.

"Yeah," Harry replied.

"Thanks for helping me with it. I would've been procrastinating over it all week and I really need to spend that time working on getting caught up on all the work I missed."

"Yeah, I've loads of homework too," Harry replied. "And you're welcome. I want to help you with this kind of stuff. I said I would help you with your mum and I mean it."

"You're not done now that she's safe?"

"No, I want to help and I like spending time with you. I was thinking that maybe we could spend more time together," Harry said trying to sound confident, when he was secretly afraid Malfoy would reject him.

"You were?" Draco asked. He had to admit that today had gone well, he liked spending time with Potter, and he liked the attention Potter was giving him. The way Potter's eyes lit up when he looked at him made butterflies flutter pleasantly in his stomach.

"Look, I want a do-over; a chance to do it right. I want to take you on a date that you can enjoy and not screw it up this time," Harry said, laying all his cards out on the table. Malfoy could stomp all over his heart, or he could breathe new life into it and all Harry could do was wait for an answer.

Draco let thick silence fill the air for several minutes while he thought about Potter's proposal. Could he give Potter a second a chance? Another chance to hurt him, but also another chance to make him feel good? He had trusted Potter today by coming in here alone and Potter had not violated that trust. He was burning bridges with his Slytherin friends by turning his back on the Dark Lord, maybe this was his chance to switch sides and even find love in the process? He didn't want to be all alone in hiding and he did want to do the courting thing, so that he wouldn't be alone after the war.

"What would this date you are proposing entail?" Draco asked, considering the possibilities.

"Well, we can't leave the castle and we need to keep it private, so I was thinking dinner in here, in the room of requirement. I know you're wary of being alone with me, but I promise to keep my hands to myself," Harry said honestly. Agreeing to being in here alone to write a letter was one thing, but agreeing to go on a _date_ in here alone was another step entirely.

"And your dick?" Draco asked. This was a deal breaker, because if he saw Potter's dick again right now he was going to freak and summon Greg and Vince.

"Yeah, and my cock. It'll stay in my trousers, I swear. If any penises are involved it will be yours this time," Harry replied.

"Huh?" Draco asked, not understanding the last bit. Surely Potter wasn't asking for Draco to bugger him? Of course that was the way sex between them should work- Draco had the biggest dick and proper etiquette dictated that the one with the biggest dick did the buggering- but that didn't mean Draco was ready for that sort of thing. That was something that should be saved until marriage. Maybe the one virginity was gone, but that didn't mean he had to give all his virginities to Potter!

"I mean, you didn't get to cum last time and I did. It's your turn next time we try something…maybe we can trying wanking." Harry noticed that Malfoy seemed to quail at the mention of sexual activity, so he added, "But we don't have to do that on this first date. I can wait as long as you want until you're ready."

"And if I'm not ready until my wedding night?" Draco asked with trepidation.

"Then we'll wait until our wedding night," Harry replied hopefully. It sounded to him like Malfoy was agreeing.

"Okay, when do you want to have this date?" Draco asked.

"Saturday evening. I'll arrange to serve my detention with Snape in the morning and have Quidditch practice after lunch, so we could have dinner together and spend some time talking after." Malfoy nodded, but blushed and ducked his head. "Great!" Harry exclaimed. He wanted to reach out and take Malfoy into a hug, but he also didn't want to push him.

Now if only he could make it through the rest of the week and their first real date without ballocksing it up, then he'd be on his way to wanking Malfoy in real life and not just in his dreams.

* * *

Author's Note: Harry and Draco will have their first date next chapter. What do you want to happen? What kind of room of requirement would you make for their first date?


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Notes: No censorship was needed in this chapter. I got some really great first date suggestions and I tried to work them in. Thank you all for the great ideas!

* * *

The next day Harry tried to stick to his plan regarding Malfoy. He wanted their date Saturday night to be perfect and pressure free. He wanted to give Malfoy the chance to slowly acclimate to his presence before anything sexual happened. He wanted to keep up his part of the carefully crafted mask Malfoy had created for himself. He tried to call Malfoy names in public and stick to minor hexes and the like, but that plan fell apart Friday morning during his free period when he ran into Malfoy in the hallway outside the library.

"Oh look if it isn't the boy who lived himself? Taking a break from saving the world, eh Scar-head?" Draco asked, coming out of the library with Crabbe and Goyle.

Harry had Ron behind him, as they headed towards the library. Hermione was in arithmancy class and they just needed a few books for an essay; they could've waited until Hermione was with them, but she had asked them to get started without her. "Just ignore him, he's not worth it," Ron said. "You still have a month's worth of detentions from Snape."

"What do you want, ferret? Run out of first years to torment?" Harry asked, but what he really wanted to do was snog Malfoy senseless. Malfoy's lips looked particularly succulent at the moment and he was having a bit of a problem in his pants. This morning he had been having the most wonderful dream about Malfoy and wanking that giant cock of his, his own cock throbbing hard. He was lying on his stomach, thrusting into the mattress, about to cum in his sleep, when Ron woke him up, saying it was time for breakfast. Harry had been embarrassed at almost getting caught by all his dorm mates having a wet dream, but at least Ron saved him that horror by waking him up before Neville, Dean, and Seamus noticed. On the other hand, Harry wished Ron would've just let him finish, because as it was he had been forced to take a cold shower and had been walking around horny all morning.

Malfoy threw a few more insults at Harry and Harry threw a few more back at Malfoy, before they broke out the mild hexes. Harry hit Malfoy with a levicorpus, which is where it all went wrong. Malfoy wasn't wearing trousers underneath his robes that particular morning, he rarely did, so when he was turned upside down by the ankle, his robes fell down around his armpits, leaving his red silk boxers exposed for all to see. Harry couldn't see much in the boxers. Yes Malfoy had a nice arse, but this pair must've had the same charm on it as the other pair did, because there was no sign of the massive cock that Harry knew must be under there.

No, it wasn't the boxers that caught Harry's eye; it was the sight of Malfoy's smooth, perfectly defined hairless chest. The boy had a slight six pack and then some. Harry had to stop himself from drooling. He quickly did the counter charm, to let Malfoy down and end the show before he did something stupid, like pull out his cock and wanking right there. But he really wasn't thinking when he performed the counter, because Malfoy's body started fallen back down towards the ground, head first, and Harry was worried that he'd be seriously injured again.

And so Harry, with the skill of a top rate seeker, dived down and caught Malfoy before he hit head first, breaking his fall. That left Harry holding a half-naked Malfoy in his lap, so he began pulling Malfoy's robes back down to cover all his most interesting bits, which meant that Harry was touching Malfoy and his hand brushed against that succulent smooth skin- not down there, of course, but the skin covering those abs and his right thigh. It was the slight brush of accidental contact, but given Harry's half-hard state from this morning, all that stimulation was very quickly creating a problem in his own pants, not to mention that Malfoy was still in his lap, squirming on top of him!

Draco wasn't too happy about the state of things, being rescued by Potter and caught in his lap! They were supposed to be fighting, not whatever it was that they were doing, and to make matters worse, Potter's hard dick was pressing into his back; Draco was not about to tolerate that, so he turned around and punched Potter right in that stupid angular jaw of his. Potter needed to practice his shaving spells, because he could feel the bumps of hair coming back up. 'He probably shaves the muggle way or something equally ridiculous,' Draco thought to himself, as he pulled his sore fist back and nursed his injury with his other hand.

Harry was shocked by the punch at first and his instinctive reaction was to turn their bodies over, so that he was on top and had the advantage. Once he had done that, he was about to start pounding back on Malfoy when he realized what he was doing and stopped himself mid-swing, instead letting his fist lightly hit the stone floor on the side of Malfoy's head. From there he fastidiously ignored his urge to snog Malfoy senseless and hump him right there on the floor outside the library with his friends watching. His hips may have bucked involuntarily into Malfoy as he stood up, but that couldn't be helped and he didn't think anyone saw.

Crabbe and Goyle helped Malfoy up, who glared at Harry, before turning towards the dungeons.

"What was that about?" Harry heard Goyle ask Malfoy.

"I don't know. Potter's gone off the deep end again," Draco told his friends as he walked away. Once they were far enough away that Potter and his Gryffindors wouldn't hear, he added, "His obsession with me is a bit embarrassing really; I'd prefer it if you two didn't say anything about it to the others."

Crabbe and Goyle nodded, not being much for thoughts or opinions, preferring just to follow whatever Draco said. Life was easier that way.

"What _was_ that about Harry?" Ron asked, echoing Goyle's question now that the Slytherin trio was out of earshot.

"Sorry, I got caught up in his insults and hexing him back, but then when he was falling I remember how he almost _died_ last week and that he was barely out of the hospital wing and I couldn't let him crack his skull open. Then he hit me and I wanted to punch him back, but again I remembered his pale face as all the blood drained from his body in that bathroom and couldn't do it," Harry lied.

"Well you need to do a better job of keeping your head about you or you're never going to get out of detention, mate," Ron chastised, sounding a bit like Hermione and clasping Harry on the back. "Just think about how our Quidditch team suffers without you, yeah?"

"Yeah mate, I'll try harder next time," Harry replied. "But listen, I don't think I can study right now. I need some time to be alone and clear my head. Maybe I'll go back to the tower and practice my occlumency."

"Alright, I'll just ask Neville to help me pick out some books," Ron replied, glancing into the library and seeing Neville sitting by himself at a table.

Harry nodded and grabbed his backpack from where he left it, before heading back to his dorm room. He wanted to run, but the problem in between his legs made running not a feasible option at the moment, so he walked back to Gryffindor tower. He was pleased to find his room empty, so he finally had a chance to wank and this time it was to images of touching Malfoy's perfect abs and pale thigh.

Yeah, so the incident in the hallway and the subsequent wanking set Harry back in his goal of having a sex-free relationship with Malfoy. Obviously he wanted more sex with Malfoy, but he didn't want to pressure him and push his hard cock off on him. Thus Harry spent the rest of the day and the next worrying about how Malfoy was taking the hallway incident. Was he mad? Did he think it was funny? Was he flattered? Maybe turned on a little himself? With those charmed boxers and not having touched Malfoy's bits, Harry was clueless as to whether or not Malfoy was turned on at all by the whole thing. 'Malfoy might be so offended that he won't even show up tomorrow,' Harry thought. He spent the next day and a half worrying over such thoughts.

But in the end, his worry just made Harry more determined to make the most of his first real official date with Malfoy. He made a trip to the kitchens to talk with Dobby and arranged for him to make a special meal with all Malfoy's favorites. Dobby was originally a Malfoy house elf, so he knew just what the young wizard preferred and how to make it. He promised Harry quiet enthusiastically that he would have everything ready and perfect in time. And with the room of requirement supplying everything else he would need, Harry had everything arranged and even had time to serve two detentions with Snape, go to Quidditch practice, and get some homework done.

A gust of lilac scented air burst out of the room of requirement as he opened the door to go inside and prepare for his date. He had told the room he needed someplace romantic to have dinner with Malfoy, but he hadn't imagined that the room would give him this. There was a fireplace in the corner with a loveseat facing it, which Harry thought might be cozy for a nice after dinner chat. And there was a table set for two in the middle of the room, which Harry thought would be perfect for their dinner. But the left side of the room ended in fields of lilac bushes covered with hundreds of thousands of tiny purple flowers and the right side of the room let out to a sandy beach. The ceiling was still there, but it was the pale blue color of the sky and he could feel the sun beating down on his skin and the cool breeze blow in off the water. Okay, maybe the flowers and the ocean breeze would be romantic. Harry had asked the room for something romantic.

Malfoy hadn't arrived yet and was not due to for another fifteen minutes, so Harry took the time to look around. There were columns, separating the fireplace and loveseat section of the room from the sea on one side, the lilac field on the other, and the dinning patio on the third side. Looking down at the cobble-stone floor under the dining area, Harry decided that it must be a dining patio. And looking at the sitting area, Harry decided that it was some sort of tropical open to the outdoors design. It had a thatched roof covering the area, and a thick rug covering the floor, but it still fit with the outdoors theme of the rest of the room. Harry then proceeded over to the field of lilacs and picked a small bunch, before putting them in a vase on the table.

Satisfied that the room was as prepared as it could be, Harry went over to examine the beach. The sand was composed of thick black and white pebbles, about three millimeters in size each. The water was a teal blue color that Harry had never seen before in real life; it looked more like the type of thing he saw on the Dursley's television then something that belonged in Britain. The water looked warm and Harry just had to test it, so he took his sneakers and socks off and dipped his toes in. The water was warm and felt wonderful against his skin; not at all like the cold black lake.

Potter was sitting down on the sandy beach letting the little waves lap at his feet when Draco arrived. He looked around the room and was impressed that Potter had gone to all of that trouble for their date. "I would've worn my summer robes if I'd known you were going tropical Potter," Draco said, walking through the dining patio towards the beach to get a better look at the indoor ocean.

"Harry. I want you to call be Harry now that we're dating," Harry said, standing up and taking Draco's hand in his. It felt warm and made his skin tingle where they connected.

"Alright, then I guess I could let you call me Draco, but only when no one else is around," Draco said, relishing in the tingling feeling he was getting from Potter- no Harry- when they touched. He had felt it the day before outside the library, when he fell into Harry's arms. Their clothes covered most of their bodies, but in the few places where their skin met, tingles had shot through his body. It was all he could do to maintain his composure and get out of there before Goyle and Crabbe noticed his rapid heart rate or his flushed cheeks.

"Alright, Draco," Harry said with an outrageous smile on his face. He had wanted for Draco to give him that permission for over a week now.

"I went to a beach like this once, with my parents when I was younger," Draco said looking out on the soft water and gentle waves. "We stayed there for the summer, but then the waves weren't so gentle then and there weren't lilac bushes growing on the island.

"Yeah? That must've been wonderful. Do you want to take your shoes off and dip your feet in?" Harry asked. "Or are you hungry and want to eat first?"

"I want to dip my feet in the water. Is it as warm as it looks?" Draco asked.

"Oh yeah, it's great. I've never seen water like it before. It even smells of salt."

"I wonder if there are fish in there. The beach I went to with my parents was teeming with life. We went snorkeling and saw the most amazingly colorful fish. I even saw a couple of sea turtles, an eel, and a manta ray, not to mention all the brightly colored coral."

"Maybe tomorrow we can come back and see. I'll ask the room for snorkel stuff and a swimsuit," Harry said, hoping Draco would agree to it and they could make it another date.

"We had snorkels, masks, flippers, and swimsuits. Father bought them from some muggle shop on the island."

"Did you go on exotic vacations like that all the time?" Harry asked curiously. Maybe he could get some more ideas for dates out of Draco. 'How many dates does it take before you're allowed to snog your date senseless? Hopefully it won't be too many, because Draco's lips just look so delicious.'

"We went somewhere every summer before I started school. Mostly we went to our Villa in France and visited with relatives, but we went to other places too. Once we went to a desert in America and another time we went to a rainforest in Africa. I liked those places, the warm places, the best. We went skiing in the Alps one time and I didn't like that at all. Far too cold."

Harry was fascinated by this and would have let Draco keep talking and wading into the wonderfully warm salt water, but Dobby popped in with dinner. "Dobby is serving Harry Potter, sir, and Draco Malfoy, sir, dinner," Dobby said before disappearing with another loud popping noise.

"What did you order?" Draco asked. He recognized the elf, but didn't want to get into that can of worms at the moment. He had seen Potter and his friends hand out SNOT or some other type of mucus badges, which was somehow linked to freeing house elves. Draco liked having house elves and couldn't imagine living without them.

"Um…I just told him to make your favorite. What do you think it is?" Harry asked.

"Well seeing this room I think it might be seafood and tropical fruits. There's this wonderful shrimp and rice dish with little bits of pineapple in it that I'm craving right now," Draco said as they walked hand in hand over to the small table where two covered plates awaited them. Neither of them bothered to put their shoes back on and they just left them lying there on the beach.

Sure enough there was a plate of shrimp, rice, and tropical fruits on the table waiting for each of them. Harry pulled out Draco's chair, like a gentleman should, before he sat down opposite him and dug in. It was delicious. "What is this one?" Harry asked after taking a bite of a particularly juicy and tangy fruit.

"That's mango. The other fruits are pineapple, guava, and papaya," Draco answered.

They ate their meal holding hands on top of the table. They were both enjoying the touch and neither let go, so that's how their hands fell. The food was so delicious that it went fast and when their plates were empty, they disappeared and were replaced by little dishes of dessert. To Harry it looked like ice cream and Danishes.

"What's this?" Harry asked curiously.

"Macadamia nut ice cream with lilikoi and coconut Danishes. I had these on the island," Draco answered, digging in with his free hand.

Harry nodded and dug in as well and he had to admit that Draco had nice taste, because the dessert was amazing.

When they were both done, Harry suggested that they go for a walk along the beach. It was an incredibly short beach, given that it was inside the room of requirement and it seemed to extend out forever, to the horizon, but it was only about a dozen yards long from end to end; Draco and Harry walked it twice, holding hands the entire way.

"You want to go in, don't you?" Harry asked. The fake sun was setting over the water and it looked spectacular.

"Yeah, but I can wait until tomorrow. I'll have to get my swimsuit," Draco answered.

"I don't have a swimsuit. My old one from the triwizard tournament is too small for me now," Harry revealed. The Dursleys never took him swimming and he certainly hadn't had need of a swimsuit besides the tournament, so he hadn't bothered getting a new one. "Do you think the room will provide me with one if I ask it?"

"Yeah, probably. If not you can borrow my extra pair," Draco replied happily. The food and view were wonderful, the warm full feeling in his stomach was pleasant, and the hand in his made his skin tingle. It was turning out to be a very nice evening.

"Okay, thanks! You look sleepy. Do you want to go sit down on the couch for a bit?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, I'm just full," Draco replied and let Harry lead him over to the loveseat where they both sat and watched the flickering flames of the fire. 'I wonder if I can fire-call mother from here.'

Draco was quiet, but it was a peaceful quiet and Harry was just enjoying being next to him. Then he felt Draco's head resting on his shoulder and looked over to see that Draco was snuggling in next to him. "Um Draco?" Harry asked.

Draco didn't respond, except for to turn his head in Harry's direction and that was when Harry realized that Draco was half asleep. Not wanting to ruin the moment, Harry draped his arm around Draco and encouraged him to snuggle in tighter. He was running on minimal sleep himself most days, so it was easy for Harry to close his eyes and fall asleep next to his…Draco. What was Draco, his boyfriend? They could work that out later, for now Harry was just satisfied with having a Draco.

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Author's Note: So Harry and Draco have another date tomorrow. What do you think should happen? How do you think Draco will react when he wakes up next to Harry? Review please.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Notes: No censorship was needed in this chapter. I got some more great ideas from my wonderful readers. I hope some of you recognize where I worked your ideas in! Keep the ideas coming and I should be able to keep the chapters flowing :)

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Draco woke up the next morning in Harry's arms in the room of requirement. Sometime during the night the loveseat by the fire had turned into a large four-poster bed by the fire. Harry's arms seemed to buzz and jump with magic where they touched him and Draco didn't want to move from the comfortable position, so he lay there until Harry woke up. It was a good thing he hadn't asked Crabbe and Goyle to wait outside for him this time.

"Merlin's Beard, we slept here all night?" Harry exclaimed, waking up and bolting upright, jostling Draco out of his arms as he did so. "Opps, sorry Draco."

"It's okay," Draco replied blushing. He was confused how he and Harry got in this position, but he was also enjoying it.

Harry took in a large gasp of air as he looked down at the bed underneath him. "When did the couch turn into a bed?"

"I don't know. It was like this when I woke up a few minutes ago." Draco's blush deepened as he realized that he had slept the entire night in Harry's arms.

A bright smile lit up Harry's face when he noticed Draco's blush, but he couldn't figure out why Draco was blushing, although he did think it was very cute and he already had morning wood… He didn't want to go there yet, so he said, "Well I don't mean to sleep and run, but we better get down to breakfast; our friends are going to be worried about us."

"Mine won't be. They know I sometimes go home on the weekends and I told them yesterday that I might be seeing mother. I think I'll just floo her and tell my friends I spent the night with her," Draco replied.

"Oh, okay then. Do you still want to try snorkeling later?" Harry asked with trepidation. What if the magic of last night's date didn't carry over to this morning?

"Yeah, this afternoon. I'll visit mother first and we can try snorkeling after lunch, if you're free."

"Yeah, that'll work. I've got Quidditch this morning and detention tonight. I need to get some homework done, but yeah, I could get away for some snorkeling this afternoon," Harry said smiling. It would be tight, but he had focused diligently on his homework all week, so he didn't have that much left. He had had some free time on Wednesday afternoon and had gotten the team together for a before dinner practice, and had practiced yesterday, so he wouldn't have that much to do in Quidditch either.

"Good, I'll meet you back here after lunch then?" Draco asked, getting up off the bed and finding his shoes where he left them on the beach.

Harry agreed and went about his day, looking forward to another date with Draco that afternoon.

Hermione was on him the minute he entered the common room. "Where have you been all night Harry? We were just about to go tell McGonagall that you're missing!"

It was still early, well before breakfast, and he didn't think his friends would be down already. He was hoping to get his morning shower in. "I fell asleep in the room of requirement. I need a shower if it's alright with you," he said.

"Fell asleep in the room of requirement? What were you doing in there? I thought you were going to the library to work on your occlumency!" Hermione hissed.

"I went to the room of requirement to work on my occlumency. The library was too loud." Harry hated lying to his friends, but this thing with Draco was new and fragile and he wasn't ready for them to intrude on it.

"Well next time let me know, yeah mate?" Ron asked. "I was worried about you when I woke up and you still weren't in your bed."

"Yeah, okay. Sorry mate."

"Good then. Ron, Harry, you two just go shower and I'll meet you down at breakfast in a bit," Hermione said, hugging Harry. "And don't scare me like that again! I thought Voldemort had killed you or something."

Harry and Ron did as ordered and went back upstairs to shower, before having breakfast with Hermione, and heading off to Quidditch practice. After Quidditch, Harry worked on his homework until lunch. He rushed through lunch, excited for the prospect of seeing Draco again. The room of requirement was empty when he arrived, so Harry focused on recreating their exotic beach and lilac room, but this time added in the details regarding the snorkel gear and swimsuits.

The room was almost the same as it had been earlier, only with the addition of a small pile of stuff on the sandy beach. Harry went over to it and was pleased to see towels, masks, fins, and most importantly, a pair of swimming trunks. He snatched the trunks up and seeing as Draco wasn't here yet, quickly switched out his pants for the trunks, leaving the robes on top. He didn't want Draco to find his old dingy pants on the beach, so he shoved them and his sneakers and socks into his backpack, which he left in a corner in the sitting room; the bed from that morning was back to a loveseat.

Harry was just venturing over to the field of lilacs to pick Draco some fresh flowers when Draco arrived. "Are you picking me flowers?" Draco asked when he saw Harry.

"Um, yeah. These are for you," Harry said quickly walking over to the door and holding the flowers out to Draco.

Draco took hold of the flowers, sniffed them, smiled, and blushed. They smelled wonderful; lilacs always were his favorite flower and they had some growing back at the Manor. But how did Harry know? Had the house elf blabbed? That would be so embarrassing if the entire school found out that he liked flowers.

Harry saw Draco's blush and thought it looked very cute. He wanted to hug Draco, but he wasn't sure how the other boy would take it, so instead he reached out and took his hand in his. It was warm and tingling, just as it had been the evening before.

Draco felt Harry's magic buzz and crackle through their shared touch and wondered just how strong Harry really was. 'He must be really powerful to constantly have it crackling along his skin like that,' Draco thought.

Harry slowly led Draco over towards the beach and the pile of snorkel gear that had appeared. He didn't quite know what to do with all of it, since he had never been snorkeling before, but he was sure Draco knew and he couldn't wait to find out.

"No swimsuit; you'll have to borrow my spare," Draco said looking down and examining the contents of the pile.

"No, there was a pair of trunks. I already have them on under my robes," Harry replied grinning. He was fairly sure he was going to get to see Draco's chest in the next few minutes and he couldn't wait, after all, Draco's chest would probably occupy the majority of his wank fantasies for the next week.

"Me too," Draco replied and blushed again. He wasn't sure how they should do this. 'Are we just gonna strip on the beach?'

"Let's see them then," Harry said pulling off his robes and showing the pair of green trunks with purple lilacs.

Draco eyed Harry's body appreciatively for a moment before pulling his robes off and revealing his own indigo blue with golden sea turtle trunks. Harry was lean and fit and Draco tried to keep himself from staring.

Harry's breath hitched in his throat as he saw Draco's magnificent body up close and personal for the first time in almost two weeks. His breathing and heart rate both sped up in anticipation, of what, he wasn't sure. His eyes took in two perfect biceps, before drifting lower and observing two long and lanky legs. He let himself linger on the trunks for a second, but couldn't make out the shape of a cock; not even a bulge like he himself was sporting. And then finally he let himself look at that chest and he was shocked by what we saw there!

Harry had thought he would have trouble keeping himself from drooling over Draco's chest and had been preparing for that. Instead, he let out a gasp as he noticed all of the nearly invisible raised lines that zigzagged across Draco's chest in the same pattern as the cuts he had made with that sectumsempra curse. They were so faint he must have missed them on Friday, but they were definitely there, glistening in the noonday fake-sun.

"I'm so sorry Draco," Harry said reaching out and touching the scars.

Draco gulped in a gasp of breath as Harry's touch sent bolts of magic through his chest and straight to his groin. It was a good job Draco's trunks had the wizard-dick-space charm on them, same as all his pants. But then all of his clothes always had that charm on them, because otherwise his dick didn't fit inside and he couldn't do up his trousers properly and father didn't approve of ill-fitted trousers. "A Malfoy always has to look the part," father said. It was a fairly common problem among pure-bloods, hence the charm.

"I'm so sorry," Harry repeated when Draco didn't respond to the first apology.

Harry was saying something, but Draco had trouble focusing on it with Harry's hand on his chest and his blood pounding through his ears again. His breathing had picked up and he could feel the adrenalin coarse through his veins. He leaned in and tilted his head down, because he was just a tiny bit taller than Harry and he needed to close the distance in between their lips. And then it felt like magic as his lips brushed against those soft lips again and Draco fought to maintain control of himself. He was determined that this time was going to be different and he wouldn't let it get too far out of hand.

Draco was kissing him! Harry wasn't sure why, but he was sure he liked it. He kissed Draco back and darted his tongue out to lick Draco's lips. They were firm and smooth and tasted like honey, which made him wonder what Draco had for lunch with his mum. He assumed he had it with his mum, because he wasn't in the Great Hall for lunch with the rest of the Slytherin table. Why was he thinking about Slytherins when Draco Malfoy was kissing him? He quickly rectified the situation and went back to concentrating on snogging Draco.

Harry tasted wonderfully and was a good kisser, but Draco didn't want it to lead to other things, so after about five minutes of snogging, he broke apart, gasping for breath.

"You want to try snorkeling now, eh?" Draco asked when he could breathe normally again.

"Yeah, alright then. What do we do?" Harry asked, picking up a mask.

Draco showed Harry how to put the snorkel gear on and then he showed him how to lower his head into the water and breathe through the snorkel.

"Gillyweed is so much easier," Harry said, finally getting the hang of it.

"Yeah, maybe, but it taste like seaweed," Draco replied. "Come on Potter, you scared?"

"You wish Malfoy," Harry replied, taking the bait.

And then they were off drifting through exotic tropical underwater wonders. There were so many different kinds of fish and coral that Harry lost track of them all. He even saw some weird dark purple sea urchins that looked like a Jell-O mold; he only knew they were urchins because Draco told him they were.

Draco was enjoying himself as he showed Harry the wonders of the sea, but they had already gone in a circle around the entire fake ocean. The ocean didn't have obvious walls, but it became so difficult to swim out past a certain distance that Draco knew he was at the limits of the room of requirement. Plus he wanted to sun bathe and feel the sun on his front side, so he led Harry back in towards the beach.

Harry floundered around trying to get out of the water with the fins still on, while Draco swam right up to the shore, before turning over and taking the gear off in the shallows. Draco pulled out his wand as he walked up onto the dry sand and did a drying charm before getting the towels and laying them out on the sand side-by-side. He was lying comfortably on his towel by the time Harry stumbled out of the water with his own gear off. Draco was feeling chivalrous at the moment, so he cast a drying charm on Harry.

"Thanks," Harry said joining Draco on the beach. Draco looked hot lying out in the sun like this and Harry was eager to join him.

"Welcome," Draco said, taking Harry's hand in his.

"Draco?" Harry asked.

"Hmm?"

"Can I kiss you again?"

"Merlin yes," Draco answered and Harry was on top of him snogging him senseless again. He was raging hard and desperately in need of some friction in about a minute. He turned over on his side, to get his mouth closer to Harry's, but also to try to work his dick between his legs. The only problem with having wizard space in your undergarments is that it makes it rather difficult to get any kind of friction, as there is nothing but empty space on the inside of his trunks; nothing but nothing touching his bits. This problem caused Draco to whine and writhe on the sand, but he felt he handled it well, all things considered. At least he didn't reach down and free his dick or start wanking himself. He wasn't ready for that in front of Harry.

Harry, unbeknownst to Draco, was having a similar problem, except without the wizard-space. Harry was attempting to be a gentleman and not touch Draco anywhere even remotely close to below the waist. Instead, Harry had one hand on Draco's face and the other one on Draco's chest, occasionally brushing across his small hard pink nipples. They were the most beautiful dusty rose color, but Harry didn't comment on that, because his mouth was preoccupied with ravishing Draco's panting open mouth. Harry lay at a ninety degree angle to Draco with his hips pushed down into the towel covered beach sand, but the towel didn't go that far, so the lower half of his body was against naked sand. He was sure he was getting sand all up in his precious bits, but he couldn't bring himself to care as he enjoyed the delicious friction he was getting off of the sand.

Harry was lost in his own pleasure when he suddenly heard a whimper escape Draco's mouth. He looked down and noticed Draco's rhythmic writhing and all of the sudden it was too much stimulation. Merlin, Draco was hot when he did that! Harry was not about to cum first again, so he forced himself up and away from Draco so that he could calm down.

Draco was a little miffed that Harry had stopped it like that, but he could see Harry panting and trying to catch his breath, and he was pleased with the effect he had on him. Besides, it wasn't like he was getting anywhere with his frictionless trunks.

"You okay there Harry?" Draco asked when he thought Harry had finally calmed down.

"Yeah, you?"

"Yeah," Draco answered. There was a long awkward pause before he continued. "What'd your friends think of you being out all night?"

"They were worried, but I told them that I was in here practicing occlumency by myself and they bought it," Harry replied.

"You know occlumency?" Draco asked surprised.

"No, but Dumbledore wants me to learn. He says it'll help me against Voldemort. I'm not very good at it. Do you know it?"

"Yeah, my insane Aunt Bella taught me. She's pretty motivating, because if I did it right, I got to leave her presence. If I got it wrong, she found out that I was shitting my pants in fear of her. That never went well," Draco revealed. He wasn't sure if he should tell Harry that much personal information, but Harry had volunteered to rid the world of his aunt and Draco wanted to encourage him to do so. It would be one less horrible Death Eater at the next family reunion.

"Snape tried to teach me last year, but he got fed-up with me. He gave me a book instead."

"Maybe I could help you," Draco suggested. "I've always wanted to learn legilimency."

"Could you? That'd be brilliant!" Harry replied enthusiastically. He had considered asking Hermione to help him, but then he realized that that would involve letting Hermione know about his thing with Draco and he wasn't ready for that, so he hadn't asked her yet.

"Sure. Have you been working on your meditation exercises?" Draco asked.

Harry had, so he nodded, and listened as Draco went into a list of pointers for learning occlumency. Harry ended up promising to try them and Draco ended up taking Harry's book and promising to read it, so that he would be better prepared to teach Harry. They agreed to meet the following Saturday to start on it.

"Let's see if there's anything to eat around here," Draco suggested before putting his robes back on and heading towards the table. Harry threw on his own robes and followed. A small can of nuts appeared just as they approached. "Sweet! I love these!"

"What are they?" Harry asked as Draco tore into the can.

"Honey roasted macadamia nuts," Draco said pouring some into Harry's hand before popping some into his own mouth. He was starving from all the swimming and snogging.

"These are really good," Harry said.

"Yeah. Come on then, let's sit down," Draco replied leading them over to the loveseat and sitting down. Harry sat down next to him.

"I still have some homework I need to finish before my detention tonight. What about you?" Harry asked Draco once the can of nuts was gone. Draco ate most of the can and Harry let him, thinking they were just a bit too rich.

"I did some with mother earlier, but I could work on my ancient runes essay," Draco replied.

Ancient runes and history of magic were the only subjects Draco had without Harry now that they were Newts level. History of magic was very boring with the way Binns taught it, but Draco wanted to follow his father into politics, so he had to take it. And besides Granger, Draco had always gotten the highest score in that class and now that she had dropped it, he should've been the lead student. But he hadn't been putting in much effort before, because of the situation with mother. That was all changed now that he had hope for his future again. Of course all the private tutoring he'd had as a kid helped, as did the fact that Professor Binns had agreed to tutor him every Monday night.

Ancient runes also fit into his career plan, because he could use it to read ancient laws and statutes. Potions, transfigurations, and defense against the dark arts were just standard classes whose skill he would likely need in the coming war, although he was badly behind in transfigurations and wished he hadn't taken it at all. His potions grade was also suffering, what with all the stress he had been under from the Dark Lord and his impossible task, but he was trying to catch up. His father expected him to be Head Boy next year and he didn't want to disappoint him if he could help it.

"Yeah? Great," Harry said reaching for his bag. "Where is it?"

"I dropped my bag back by the door. I'll go get it," Draco said before getting up and retrieving his school bag.

They did their homework together silently until dinner. Harry wanted to suggest that they skip the Great Hall and eat together, but he knew that Draco hadn't been to a meal there since lunch on Saturday. "You're friends are probably worried about you. We should go to dinner soon," Harry said, putting away his quill and parchment.

"No, I saw them earlier when I came back from visiting with mother. I told them that I was with her all night and all morning and that I was going to work on my secret Death Eating project. They won't miss me, but I am hungry, so let's go back."

"You're not gonna take the mark, are you?" Harry asked.

"I already took it. I had to, to protect mother."

"But I didn't see anything on your arm!" Harry was shocked. He had suspected Draco of having a mark at the start of the school year, but he had seen Draco's arm very clearly today and there was nothing on it.

"It fades when the Dark Lord isn't calling. How else do you think father and the others got away with their crimes the first time?"

"Oh, I didn't think of that," Harry replied.

"It's not a big deal. So I have a horribly ugly tattoo; you'll kill Voldemort and it'll go into permanent dormancy and best of all, I'll still have a mother," Draco explained. He was not one to put principles before family.

"Alright. Hey, do you think these swim trunks will disappear the moment we leave this room?" Harry asked changing the subject. He was impressed that Draco was willing to sacrifice his freedom from Voldemort for his mum's safety, but he didn't know what to say to that. He didn't have a mum, so he didn't know what it was like to be worried about her like that.

"Yeah, probably. You'll just have to ask for them again next time," Draco replied.

They were quiet for a few minutes before Harry asked, "Draco?"

"Hmm?"

"Will you be my boyfriend?" Harry asked nervously. He was scared Draco would say no, but they had been snogging all day, so he had to ask.

"Yeah," Draco answered blushing. He was still not too sure about this Harry thing, but he liked the way Harry made him feel, so he was willing to take a risk.

"Brilliant," Harry replied before leaning in for one last snog before they parted ways and went down to dinner.

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Author's Note: I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far. You guys are great and please keep it up!


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: This chapter was censored and Harry's wanking was removed. If you would like to read the missing section, please go to .net (slash) ?no=600097033

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After dinner that Sunday evening Harry went to his detention with Snape, which was mostly composed of reading and practicing defensive shields, but also it gave Harry a chance to talk with Snape.

"Um, Professor Snape?"

"Yes Mr. Potter."

"Draco offered to help me with occlumency; he wants to learn legilimency. I was wondering if you could help him with this? Maybe we could try it the first time in here, in case something goes wrong, sir."

"I had assumed you would ask Ms. Granger to help you. Is this not the case?"

"Um, no. I was thinking about asking Hermione, but she doesn't know anything about occlumency and Draco's already pretty good at it. It'd be easier for him to teach me and he mentioned wanting to learn legilimency."

"How did the two of you come to realize you had this desire in common? It was my understanding that the two of you can barely stand to be in the same room with each other without killing one another."

"Well we talked that day we had detention together and then again this afternoon when he got back from visiting his mum. I'm starting to realize that he's not all that bad," Harry admitted shrugging.

"And I suppose you want to arrange to do this during your detention time, Mr. Potter."

"Yeah, that would be great!" Harry replied, but when Snape didn't say anything, he added, "I'm making good progress with this book. I should be done with it and working on writing the essay by the end of the week."

"Very well Mr. Potter. I shall arrange for Mr. Malfoy to have a detention sometime this week," Snape said, before going back to his marking papers.

Harry was pleased with himself, because not only would he have something else to do during his long detentions besides read, but also he would have an excuse to see Draco during the week. Therefore he turned back to his work determined to finish this book early in hopes of convincing Snape to let him spend the entire last week of detention with Draco practicing occlumency.

Monday held more excitement, because Harry received a delivery at breakfast. Hedwig flew in with a package wrapped in brown paper and although Harry was not sure what it was, he was fairly certain he knew who it was from and what it was about, so he tucked it away in his bag without opening it. He had sent that letter off to Fred and George explaining his new personal discovery and asking if they could get him some reference material on the subject. The package felt like a book, so Harry felt it was safe to assume that Fred and George had sent him the gay book he'd asked for.

It was hard to sit through classes with an unknown-but-probable-sex book hidden in his bag, but Harry managed to make it through and even tried to pay attention. Potions was first, and of course it was harder now that he no longer had the Half Blood Prince's book, but Harry managed to survive, even if his potion was rubbish. Slughorn gave him a funny look and made a comment about not being able to win them all and then Harry _finally_ had free period.

It took a few minutes to brush Ron off. Hermione had arithmancy, so Ron wanted to use the time to practice Quidditch, but Harry just wanted to be _alone_ to read his book. "I'm gonna practice meditating for occlumency," Harry explained before taking off for the room of requirement and leaving Ron with a confused look on his face.

"Yeah, I'll just go see if Dean and Seamus want to practice," Ron called after him. Dean was their replacement chaser and regularly practiced with the team, in the advent that they had to fill the position. Seamus was rubbish at Quidditch, but he liked to play it anyway.

Harry asked the room for a couch, a bed, and a bathroom, not knowing what he might need while perusing his new book. The room he was provided with looked a lot like the rooms at the Leaky Cauldron, which made Harry feel comfortable. He quickly flopped down on the couch and pulled his plain brown package out of his backpack. There was a note, from Fred and George, and a book entitled Queer Sex for Wizards. Harry smiled when he looked at the book and then he began to read the note.

Dearest Harry,

We hope this book finds you in time. We were very pleased that you chose to turn to us and we promise to keep your little secret, even from ickle Ronnikins, although we may have implied to the clerk at the bookstore that we were buying this for him. We don't have much experience with this subject, but should this book not be sufficient, feel free to enlist our help again, just with more detail- to aid the clerk at the bookstore mind you- we personally don't want to hear too much detail. Oh our little Harry is growing up!

-Yours truly, George and Fred Weasley

Harry didn't spend too much time on the note, quickly turning to the book. The cover was a bit plain, but the inside of the front cover was filled with a moving picture of two wizards having sex! None of the bits were visible from the angle it was taken at, but there was a lot of bare skin and humping. Harry felt his blood rushing south just at the sight of it. He'd never seen two men going at it and he wondered if he and Draco would look this hot doing it.

The book was filled with full color moving pictures and Harry had to stop himself from leafing through the book to see all of the pictures. Instead he turned to the first page and started to read. There was some background information, such as how to tell if you were gay, followed by a chapter about how being gay was perfectly normal. Harry didn't need those chapters, so he skipped ahead to the third chapter, which was on having a successful gay relationship.

It started with the basics on courting another wizard, which seemed to be the same type of stuff his fellow Gryffindor's were trying with witches, such as flowers, candy, and jewelry. Then there was a section on how to listen to your man, which Harry skipped over, because by then he had noticed how close he was to the good stuff. Just pages away was a multi-page spread of naked men doing all kinds of things to each other! Harry quickly noted that there was a chapter on preparing for sex, but the pictures looked kind of gross, so he skipped over that and went straight to the chapter with all the good pictures: The Key to a Healthy Queer Relationship is a Varied Sex Life. This chapter was broken down into sections based on sexual activities and then further down by positions, with lots of illustrative pictures. Harry learned all about the joys of hand jobs, blow jobs, humping, and anal sex.

Harry was only a quarter of the way through the chapter when he couldn't take the throbbing in his cock any longer. He kept imagining that it was Draco in those naked pictures or doing the things the book described and that made him hard, horny, and very aroused. "Oh bugger," he said out loud in the empty room before stripping and sitting back down naked with his hand on his cock to wank as he read.

*censored

Once that was taken care of, Harry turned to the section with spells and found a charm to vanquish the mess he made on his chest, before turning to read all of the sections he had skipped over. Turns out he had missed the part about foreplay and opening up the arsehole with fingers, lubricating potions, and spells. There was a gross picture of cleaning an arsehole on the preceding page, so it was no wonder he had skipped it, but it was very informative and went a long way to explaining why he had hurt Draco: he hadn't prepared him properly. But now that it was likely to be his arse used next, he decided to read this part carefully and even tried out some of the spells…which made a disgusting mess because he had still skipped the arse cleaning section. Oh well, it gave him another chance to practice the gentle vanishing spell that he had used earlier.

Wondering why Draco's arse hadn't needed any cleaning, Harry reluctantly read through the previously skipped section and practiced the cleaning charm. It felt unpleasant, but it wasn't as bad as it looked and it was over quickly, having worked the first time. Then Harry tried the stretching and lubricating charms. It felt weird, but he was pleased with his excellent wand work and decided that it would probably feel better with Draco and when he was hard. He was sated from earlier, but that was okay, because he still had a lot to read about.

Harry was just finishing reading a chapter on prostate stimulation when he checked the time and realized that lunch was already being served. He wanted to read more of the book, but he didn't want to miss lunch and be hungry all afternoon, so he quickly got dressed, grabbed his stuff, and ran down to the Great Hall for lunch.

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Author's note: What did you think of Harry and his book? I thought it was a bit awkward, but he's pretty virginal still, so it should be awkward.

Draco and Harry will be practicing occlumency and legilimency next chapter. What would you have Draco see in Harry's mind? They will be having a lot of legilimency practices coming up, so I need lots of ideas!


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Notes: No censorship was needed in this chapter. Lately I've been reading Erotes by Bicky Monster and it's a really good story that I recommend you read, if you are looking for another good creature mpreg Harry/Draco story. Check it out at (slash) s (slash) 8907834 (slash)

I didn't get any suggestions that I felt worked for the first occlumency session, but for those of you who submitted ideas, rest assured that I am already writing them into the next occlumency session. Thank you for all the help and please keep the ideas coming :)

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Snape was late to defense against the dark arts on Tuesday morning, so Harry and Draco had the perfect opportunity to have another one of their fake fights while waiting in the corridor. Harry started showing off all of the new types of shields he had learned in detention as Draco shot curse after curse at him. Draco shot a fire-based curse; Harry threw up a translucent red and crackling fire-shield. Draco threw a water curse; Harry shot off a translucent blue and roaring water-shield. Harry wanted to laugh when Draco summoned a snake, because he could've just told it to go away with parseltongue, but that would've been too easy, so he cast a hissing pearly-white anti-venom shield, which rendered the snake's venom powerless and made the subsequent snakebite Harry incurred tickle.

Draco tried a good old-fashioned reducto and Harry countered with a sparkling while and silver mirror-shield that sent the reducto into the castle wall. When it hit the stone wall, it caused a mild explosion and a large stone to crack and crumble onto their heads, which just gave Harry the chance to cast a shimmering rainbow bubble-shield around all of the students. The rock debris bounced off the shield and landed harmlessly on the stone floor and of course that was right when Snape walked in.

"Detention! The both of you for fighting in the halls. Four nights," Snape announced as he vanished the stone and let the students into the classroom.

'Well at least this solves how Draco's going to get to our occlumency lessons undetected,' Harry thought as he went to his regular seat.

"Harry! This means you've earned another week of detentions with Snape! What about Quidditch?" Ron asked upset. Harry felt a little bad keeping his friend out of the loop, but Ron didn't know occlumency either, so if he got captured, it would put Draco at risk if he knew. At least that was how Harry rationalized lying to his friends.

"The detentions Snape gives Malfoy are short. It won't be a big deal," Harry replied.

"Stupid show-off Potter and his stupid shields," Harry heard Draco muttering to his Slytherin friends.

"Harry, Ron's right: you shouldn't have been fighting with Draco. Next time he gets hurt you could be expelled," Hermione warned.

"Five points from Gryffindor, for talking during class, Ms. Granger," Snape announced appearing in front of Hermione and looking down at her. It was not often he got the chance to take points off of Hermione and he relished the opportunity.

Their conversation ended then and class started. Harry spent the rest of the day looking forward to detention, knowing that Draco would be there and that they could start practicing occlumency. Several times that day, Harry caught himself daydreaming about just what he would like Draco to see in his memories. Of course Harry was supposed to be learning how to keep Draco out, but Draco was also supposed to be learning how to force his way in and Harry would have to let him practice that, so he would have to let him see something. Thus he decided that he would show Draco how he felt.

Harry wasn't positive himself exactly how he felt, so he concentrated on figuring it out. He didn't have any unimportant classes this year, like history of magic, divinations, or astronomy, so Harry tried not to think about it too much during class. He had homework to do during his free time, so he tried not to spend that time daydreaming either. And his friends kept wanting to talk to him during meals, but really that was his only time available to let his mind wander and figure out just what it was he felt for Draco.

'I feel happy when I'm with Draco,' Harry thought and that was a good start, but there was also the warm bright-white fuzzy feeling that he didn't know the word for. Was it love or lust or need or want? Maybe it was attraction, passion, or desire. Harry was pretty sure those last three were wrapped up in the ball somewhere, but there seemed to be another overwhelming emotion tying it all together and letting off silver sparks. Whatever it was, it was strong; Harry always felt everything strongly when it came to Draco. He had sort of an instinctive pull towards the other boy, like his subconscious knew, just knew, that Draco was important to him.

And that was all Harry managed to figure out during his frequently interrupted daydreaming that day before it was time to go to detention and see Draco. 'I'll just have to show Draco my white ball and hope that he can make sense out of it,' Harry thought to himself as he waited for Snape to finish speaking with Draco. Snape was giving Draco a legilimency tutorial while Harry was supposed to be reading, but he couldn't concentrate on reading when he could hear Snape and Draco talking.

Occlumency started with clearing the mind, which Harry had been practicing lately. He didn't have much time to practice it and he had a lot of trouble clearing his mind with all the things he had to think and worry about, but the book Snape had given him had a lot of tricks he was hoping to try. If he could just keep his mind clear and focused on one thing, then he could use that thought as a shield to protect his mind from invasion. Draco would see the one thought and nothing more. Harry was determined that that one thought would be his white ball of feelings, thus he started meditating and concentration on it.

By the time Draco announced he was ready to try, Harry could see his bright white ball of feelings glowing and sparking at the forefront of his brain. He nodded that he was ready, closed his eyes, and concentrated on the ball. Draco took a great many tries, with Snape frequently stepping in and making suggestions on wand movement and force of will and such, so by the time the allotted hour was up and Draco had still not gotten the hang of it, Harry was about to give up. But Draco wanted one more go at it, so Harry concentrated once more on his white ball, practically willing Draco to see it and he locked eyes with him.

That was when legilimency finally worked for Draco; a white light shot out of his wand into Harry's brain and he could see a glowing orb shifting on the surface of Harry's mind. It took Draco about ten minutes to orient himself to being in someone else's head, because all of the reference points seemed off, but then he did it and finally realized that what Harry was showing him were his emotions. It took Draco another five minutes to figure out that Harry felt these things for him, during which time he was able to tease out most of the emotions that made up the ball. There was lust, passion, desire, and attraction, but what really surprised Draco was the love- the ball seemed to be made up of it and it sparkled in silver snaps like a thousand mini-explosion lighting up the ball with an inner glow and giving it its fuzzy white color.

Draco was stunned, but not quite into silence. "You really feel that way about me?"

"Yes," Harry replied honestly. "What did you see?"

Draco lowered his wand and threw himself at Harry, whispering, "You love me," into Harry's ear. He wrapped his arms around him, kissing him passionately and he didn't even care that Professor Snape was still in the room watching them.

Harry wasted no time in returning the hug and kissing him back. Was it love? It was the first time he had ever felt this way. He loved his friends and Hedwig, but that kind of love didn't give off sparks like this feeling; maybe it was a new kind of love.

"Uh-hmm," Snape cleared his throat. "There are to be no displays of affection in detention."

"Um, sorry sir," Draco said somewhat sheepishly at the reprimand from his head of house.

"I was not aware that there were romantic feelings between the both of you," Professor Snape replied slowly, not giving any hint of his own response to this revelation. Was he disgusted with Draco for kissing a halfblood? Was he disappointed? Or might he approve? Draco couldn't tell and that was making him nervous, but then one never could tell with Professor Snape.

"They're new," Draco answered, looking Harry in the eyes. He was grateful that Harry had not opened his mouth and insulted the professor, as he clearly wanted to do.

"So it would seem. I hope I do not need to test you for muggle diseases, Mr. Potter."

"Excuse me sir?" Harry asked not understanding Snape's meaning. Was he asking if Harry had the flu or something?

"Muggles carry sexually transmitted diseases. If you have been sexually active with muggles previously then you could transmit said diseases to Mr. Malfoy. Mr. Malfoy will have a time of it explaining how he got a muggle disease to his father," Snape clarified.

"No sir," Harry replied offended, and turning a bright shade of red at having this sort of conversation with his professor.

"We're not…um…doing that, sir," Draco said, finding it difficult to talk about sex with an adult and wanting to clarify that he and Harry weren't sexually active yet.

"I do not wish to know about the private matters of my students. If the two of you should need counseling in these matters you should speak with the headmaster. As you well know Mr. Malfoy, Professor Dumbledore handles all matters concerning the students of your disposition. Mr. Potter, I can arrange an introductory meeting with him, unless he is already aware of your disposition."

"No thank you sir, I've no desire to confide my personal life to the barmy old git," Draco replied.

"I've already been introduced to Professor Dumbledore, sir. What matters of my… disposition, as you called it, does he handle?" Harry asked slightly confused.

"Mr. Malfoy, please do not refer to the headmaster in such a manner in front of me. Counseling matters, Mr. Potter. If you were experiencing some sort of emotional problem or found yourself in need of contraceptives, then you would go speak with him. It is standard that students such as yourself are referred to him when they first come to our attention, so that he can make you aware of the services he provides."

"Really? That's good to know, because Ron could really use that type of thing. He and Lavender broke up, thank Merlin, but he has his eyes on Hermione-"

"Mr. Potter, I do not wish to hear this drivel, please cease at once," Snape interrupted. "Madam Pomfrey handles all of the students of Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Granger's orientation. You may direct them thusly."

"Oh," Harry replied, not knowing what to say to that. He wondered why the gay students were sent to Dumbledore and the straight ones to Madam Pomfrey; was it some sort of unfair segregation, because the gays needed special help, or was there an actual reason behind it? Either way, Harry was already embarrassed enough having this conversation with Snape, so he decided to save his questions for later and ask the headmaster himself. He was more comfortable with Dumbledore.

"It's ballocks that they get Madam Pomfrey and we get landed with the headmaster," Draco said flippantly.

"Language Mr. Malfoy," Snape chastised. Harry noted that he didn't take points off from his own house, when he surely would've taken them off from Gryffindor if it were him mouthing off. "Your detention for the night is over; you may continue your legilimency training with Mr. Potter during detention tomorrow night. Please go back to your common room now." Draco nodded and began packing up his school bag. "Mr. Potter, you can resume your usual detention work."

Draco left and Harry went back to work reading, finishing the last chapter of the book, before setting about to organize his notes for the essay he had to write.

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Author's Note: Please review!


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note: A few words were changed between this version and the unedited version. The ideas for this chapter came from a couple of my reviews. Thank you for contributing!

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The next day was Wednesday and Harry was pleased that once again he had finished his homework in time for an early Quidditch practice before dinner. Ginny was doing a good job shaping his team up in his absence, so he was fairly certain of another victory and the Quidditch cup.

After dinner, it was detention with Snape and Draco and this time Harry was going to try a somewhat riskier approach in what he chose to display in his mind. Showing Draco his emotions had been received well, but what Harry really wanted was to move their relationship forward on the physical front. Hugging and kissing were good and Harry could appreciate Draco's desire to wait on sex, especially after their first time had been such a disaster, but there were so many other things that they could be doing between those two stages. Harry was quickly becoming familiarized with all of them thanks to the book Fred and George had sent. He had even practiced a few of the spells on himself, but most of it was impossible to do without a partner and he wanted Draco to be that partner.

Draco had agreed to be his boyfriend, which was a good start, but he seemed to be afraid of more intimate activity ever since the bathroom incident. Harry knew that he had hurt Draco badly that day and also that Draco felt violated, because of the miscommunication between the two of them, but he hoped that he had made it up to him. He stole the healing potion for him, talked to Snape about retrieving his mum for him, and was even letting his mum stay at his house, even though he had already offered it to Dumbledore as headquarters for the Order. And now that he and Draco had had two successful dates and a kiss in front of Snape yesterday, Harry hoped that Draco might be ready to move on.

The only problem was getting Draco to agree with him. Harry spent the day trying to think of ways to get him to agree. He was pretty sure if he tried to jump him, Draco would freak; he just didn't have that level of trust built up with him. Harry knew exactly why he hadn't been able to build up trust and it wasn't their five and a half years of fighting in the school corridors; it was the bathroom incident, again. How was he ever going to get past that?

'We are _not_ going to be celibate our whole lives over this!' Harry promised himself silently. He may be willing to wait for marriage for penetration, but he was a red-blooded male and had _needs_.

With that determination in mind, Harry decided that what he really needed to do to set things right was to show Draco that day in the loo from his perspective. Not the third person view that one might see in a pensieve, but the first person perspective that was only possible with legilimency. It wasn't enough that he told Draco that it was a misunderstanding and that he didn't realize that he was hurting and violating him at first. He also wanted Draco to know how awful he felt about the whole thing; he was scared when he realized that Draco had feinted and embarrassed when he fell at the end. He felt terrible when he realized what he had done and absolutely horrible when he thought that Draco might die right there in his arms. He didn't have the words to say it, but legilimency would share how he felt without him having to actually say it. Perfect really.

Detention started off again with Snape and Draco going over legilimency basics, and Harry meditating on what he wanted to show Draco. Harry pulled up his memory of the bathroom incident and then layered it thick with all of the horrible emotions he felt during it and the guilt he felt after talking with Draco about it in the hospital wing. He tried to separate out the parts where he had felt good, which was everything before he realized Draco had feinted, because he didn't want Draco to see that part; he was embarrassed that he had gotten pleasure from something that had caused Draco so much pain.

Harry kept having thoughts of the sex book pop up in his head, but he knew that this was not the time to bring that up. He wanted more sex, not to push Draco away from sex prematurely. So he pushed the unwanted thoughts back and tried to keep them under the surface of his bathroom memory shield, safely protected from Draco's weak legilimency attempts.

Legilimency was hard. There was a wand movement and an incantation, but most of it was about the way one willed the mind. Draco found that he had to focus his will just the right way, bending it slightly, or it would glance right off Harry's head. It took him three quarters of the hour just to get into Harry's mind and then he was faced with the incomprehensible mess that was in his boyfriend's brain. 'No wonder Harry does poorly in classes with this mush for brains!' Draco thought. Seeing the inside of Harry's head made him question whether he really wanted to be in a relationship with someone like that.

'What if the children take after him?' That was a scary thought and Draco quickly pushed it away and dove once more into the cesspool that Harry utilized to think. 'Maybe Harry is just really good at occlumency and keeping me out…no, I'm probably just really bad at legilimency, because I'm already in, I just can't figure out what I'm in.'

And so Draco went on like that, rummaging around Harry's head for a good ten minutes before he realized what it was he was looking at: they were Harry's emotions again. This time they were ugly emotions and they just kind of tainted whatever it was they were strewn over. It was like emotional vomit of the mind; no wonder he took so long to decipher it. 'Next time, I'm gonna tell him to show me something easy, like a snitch. Let's see him shoved in the middle of this emotional vomit and swim out,' Draco thought to himself as he began sorting through the emotions and putting them into neat boxes.

Harry wanted to laugh when he realized that Draco was tidying up his thoughts. It seemed to him as if Draco was picking apart his bathroom shield piece by piece and sorting the pieces into piles in his mind. 'It's one way to go about it, I suppose. If I let him keep at it, my shield will eventually fall apart, like a fence after someone has removed all of the nuts!'

Something about a fence and nuts seeped through the muck of Harry's brain. Draco felt like giving up and finding a nice straight-forward Hufflepuff to date. 'That one seventh year, Luke, is still available last I heard…but then he doesn't just have muggleborns in his family, his grandfather was an actual _muggle_! It's like my aunt on mother's side, the sane one, not Bellatrix…what's her name? It doesn't matter anyway. Mother's family disowned her and they'll disown me too if I bring home that Hufflepuff. Better give Harry another go.'

Draco did not give up. He strengthened his resolve and cleaned up the emotional garbage and found: that day in the loo. Had Harry finally broke? He knew Harry wasn't very good at occlumency, but surely Harry would bury this memory deep and not leave it lying around here on the surface like this! It wasn't something he wanted anyone else to know and after seeing it lying out in the garbage like this, he began to think his secret humiliation was not at all safe with Harry.

Draco lost his focus and his link to Harry's mind. He wanted to cry, but he didn't want Professor Snape to see him crying, nor did he want to cry in front of Harry again, so he tried to suck it up and pull himself back together.

"Did you see it?" Harry asked anxiously. He didn't know how Draco would take it and he really needed to know.

"Yeah," Draco replied, still trying to calm down.

"Well what did you think?" Harry asked.

"What do I think? I think I'm furious with you that you'd just have that lying around on the surface of your mind, where anyone could snatch it out with just the tiniest amount of legilimency!" Draco seethed.

Professor Snape moved closer, in case he needed to intervene if physical violence broke out, but for now he tried to stay out of it.

"What? Wait. No, I don't normally leave it out there like that. I wanted you to see it."

"You _wanted_ me to see it? So you could trip me up and force me out of your head? You wanted me to look like a fool and for you to look like a master occlumens in front of Professor Snape, is that it?" Draco was furious now.

"No, not like that. I wanted you to see how I felt about it and to know that I'm truly sorry for what I did to you," Harry pleaded with him. This wasn't turning out at all like what he planned.

"That emotional garbage you had heaped around it?" Draco asked. He was still mad and hadn't quite comprehended what Harry said.

"Yes. Those were my feelings, both during and after it. I wanted you to see how upset it made me that I did that to you!"

"So all the guilt, embarrassment, and general bad feelings belonged to the memory?" Draco asked.

"Yeah. Maybe you could go in again and try to see how the emotions fit with the scene?" Harry pleaded.

"Merlin Harry, why can't you show me something easy, like a snitch or an apple. Why can't you ever just think of apples? Huh? They're nicely colored, taste good, and are sweet and juicy. What in the name of Merlin is so bad about apples?" Draco asked somewhat exasperated.

"Apples?" Harry asked confused.

"Uh yeah, apples Potter," Draco clarified. "Ever heard of them?"

"Why would I think about apples? Do they make a good shield? Is that what you do?" Harry asked.

"No, it's not what _I_ do, but I'm trying to learn a _very_ hard subject here and you're not making it easy on me. If you'd just give me something easy to start with before throwing the rotten mush that is your brain at me!" Draco replied, trailing off at the end there.

"Okay, I'll try to visualize an apple," Harry agreed, trying to calm Draco down.

"Okay then."

"I'll just think of that apple now. Feel free to give it another try whenever you're ready," Harry said hesitantly. He was worried that he might've said something that would make Draco blow up again.

"Good. Apples," Draco said calming down. He could do this; Harry was going to give him an easy one.

It took five more minutes, but when Draco finally got in, he quite clearly saw an apple in Harry's mind. It was a bright red one and as he watched, a bite was taken out of it and Draco could see the juice running down. It looked sweet and tasty and made him want an apple.

Harry wasn't sure how long he was supposed to show Draco the apple for, but Draco soon broke the spell and said, "Okay, I think I got it. You can show me your emotional diarrhea again."

"That's an interesting way of putting it," Harry said before focusing once more on the bathroom.

This time when Draco went into Harry's mind, he was in the loo with the emotions flying overhead, like fluffy tainted clouds of poisonous gas. He saw Harry raping him while he was unconscious and then he felt scared as Harry realized that he was unconscious. He was pleased to find that Harry hadn't continued raping him while he was unconscious; he had been under the impression that Harry had just had his way with him and enervating him when Harry was done. Draco didn't think he would've started flinging all those hexes the moment he got his wand back if he had known that.

There was more of the bathroom and more unpleasant emotions, but Draco had seen enough, so he broke the spell again and said, "Okay, I get it."

"You do?" Harry asked anxious once more. Did Draco really get it this time?

"Yeah, you didn't know. You're an idiot and a moron, but not a perverted sick…" Draco didn't want to finish that sentence with Professor Snape still in the room, because it involved more foul language and might give away too much information. Professor Snape was clearly watching them and paying attention to what they said and did, but he was once again seated at his desk and didn't look like he had any plans on interfering with what was going on between him and Harry.

"Great!" Harry exclaimed. Maybe this would work out after all.

"Yeah. Um, hey Harry?" Draco asked nervously.

"Yeah Draco?"

"Do you want to maybe meet tomorrow?" Draco asked. He wanted to talk about this more with Harry, but not with Professor Snape around and it was past his time to go.

"Yeah!" Harry exclaimed excitedly. If he could get Draco alone he could snog him senseless and even maybe bring up the book…

"Three o'clock, the usual place?" Draco asked. He didn't want Professor Snape to know they usually met in the room of requirement.

"Yeah sure," Harry replied, moving forward to take Draco's hand.

"As touching as this is boys," Snape began dryly. "Mr. Malfoy's detention time is now over and Mr. Potter must get back to his own detention."

"See you tomorrow," Draco said as he grabbed his school bag and left, leaving Harry to get back to work on that essay.

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Author's note: What do you think Draco wants to say to Harry in the room or requirement? And for those of you who want Harry to show Draco the sex book, Harry will be mentioning it next chapter :) Please review.


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Notes: No censorship was needed in this chapter.

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Harry was getting behind on his homework again, what with Quidditch practice before dinner on Wednesday, masturbating and reading his book Monday during free period, the two dates with Draco last weekend, and now a third date in the room of requirement Thursday before dinner. But Harry was excited to have some time alone with Draco and figured he could make up the homework soon enough.

Harry got to the room of requirement first, because he wanted to make the room just right. He wanted their exotic lilac beach from before, but with the addition of a bathroom, just in case he talked Draco into doing something from the book. Or judging by the amount of sand he found in his bits after they went snorkeling, the shower would be useful in case they went snorkeling again. 'Yeah, if Draco asks, I want the shower for the second reason; I hope the snorkel gear is there again, including the swimsuit.'

The swimsuit from last time had disappeared after he took it off. He went to throw it in the laundry, and it was gone. But on the plus side, it had worked well enough while it was on him and he didn't have another, so he hoped the room would provide him with another one-time-use suit.

Harry was hit with the scent of lilacs and a salty ocean breeze when he opened the door, which was a good indication that the room was made right. He did a quick once around, looking for differences. There was now a small cabinet outside the hut on the beach, which is where he found their snorkel gear, but no swim-trunks. The hut wasn't any deeper, but it was wider, cutting into the lilac forest on the left side of the room, and now there were solid thatched walls on that side of the hut, instead of the purely open design from before.

He went inside the hut and found the same loveseat and fireplace as before, but now there was a dresser up against the rear wall. When he opened the first drawer, he was pleasantly surprised to find the green and lilac swim-trunks from before, along with a few pairs of pants. He opened the next drawer and found two sets of pajama bottoms and two plain white t-shirts. The clothes looked nicer than his own and there was a chance Draco might see him naked today, so he quickly switched his pants and added one of the white shirts, before pulling his robe back on. Again, he hid his own pants in his backpack, so that Draco wouldn't see.

'I really need to buy new pants now that I've got a boyfriend to potentially see them,' Harry thought as he stowed his backpack on top of the dresser.

After that, Harry explored the addition on the left side of the hut. Against the rear wall of the room of requirement, there were now a set of sliding glass doors. When he opened them, he found a large empty closet. Closer to the dining patio side of the room was one solid wooden door. He opened the wooden door to find the bathroom he had asked for. There was a large tub on the left, like the one if the prefects bathroom. On the right there was a small shower, sink, and a loo, and on the back wall there was a whole rack of fluffy white towels.

'It's perfect,' Harry thought. It blocked the view of the lilac forest, but it more than made up for that with added functionality.

Draco came in when Harry was just walking around the outside of the hut on the lilac side, to see what the bathroom looked like from the outside. It looked like it might blow over in a strong wind, because it appeared to be made of giant leaves and sticks. But as they were inside Hogwarts, it was unlikely that the hut would be subjected to a strong wind and it was probably held together by magic, so Harry decided it would do.

"Hullo Harry," Draco called from across the room and Harry went running over to the door.

'Hi Draco," Harry replied, panting slightly and taking his hand.

"Is the room the same?" Draco asked curiously. He wondered if Harry always asked for it like this or if the room always made itself like this for him.

"Mostly. There's a cabinet on the beach to hold the snorkel gear now and a dresser in the room with my trunks in them. And there's even a bathroom on the lilac side of the hut!" Harry's voice increased in excitement when he got to the bathroom part.

"With a loo?" Draco asked and Harry nodded. "Better watch out or the Weasley clan will be moving in here soon."

"Hey! Watch it, they're my friends!" Harry exclaimed somewhat miffed. He had hoped that he and Draco could set aside their differences now that they were together. 'Are we really gonna go back to that when I introduce him to my friends as my boyfriend?'

"I was just pulling your chain," Draco explained, laughing at Harry's reaction.

"That wasn't funny." Harry pouted.

"It sooo was way funny and you totally fell for it." Draco was doubled over laughing now.

After a few minutes, Draco stopped laughing, straightened up, and pulled himself together.

"Had enough of a laugh at my expense, have you?" Harry was smirking, because Draco looked so cute with a smile on his face and a light in his eyes that he couldn't help it.

"Yeah. Eh, I haven't laughed like that is so long…In fact, I can't remember the last time I laughed like that," Draco replied.

"It really takes a load off to know your mum's safe, doesn't it?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. So why were you so excited about the bathroom? Plan on moving in here permanently to hide from the Dark Lord?" Draco asked.

"No, but that's a good idea. He'd never be able to find me in here and the elves would feed me whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. I'd just have to convince you to move in here with me so that I'd have someone to talk to." Harry thought it was a good idea, but he couldn't imagine doing it for long, because he couldn't imagine hiding and staying hidden. He wanted to kill Voldemort and get it over with.

"He'd probably tear down the entire castle, brick by brick, to get to you; obsessive bastard," Draco joked.

"Did you know he really is a bastard, literally? His mum tricked his muggle father into marrying him with a love potion. She decided to come clean once she was pregnant. The muggle kicked her out and she gave birth in an orphanage, before dying and leaving baby Tom there to be raised by muggles. His dad never came looking for him; that's probably why he hates muggles so much."

"Really? How do you know all that?" Draco asked.

"Dumbledore. I've had a couple of lessons with him this year where he teaches me about Voldemort's past, that way I'll be prepared to kill him when the time comes," Harry revealed.

"And his first name is really Tom? That's so pedestrian," Draco said laughing.

"Tom Riddle," Harry confirmed.

"Oh no wonder he changed his name! Can you imagine Lord Tom Riddle? That wouldn't even scare kneazles."

"You're in a good mood today," Harry observed.

"Yeah, well mother's safe, I've got a new hot boyfriend, and I finally got caught up on my school work. I've never had such poor grades before," Draco replied.

"That's great!"

"The poor grades or the hot boyfriend part?" Draco asked before stepping forward and tilting his head down for a kiss, which Harry returned.

Draco and Harry snogged for a good ten minutes before they broke apart panting. Draco bent down, his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath, but Harry stayed upright.

"A couple of months without Quidditch and you're out of shape already?" Harry quipped.

"Yeah, well I haven't done much of anything physically lately, besides snorkeling Sunday," Draco replied, standing up and smiling, before taking Harry's hand again.

"I know, Quidditch is starting to feel like such a little kid thing. There are so many more important things to consider, what with the war coming up and all," Harry said.

"Yeah, I was feeling the same about school. But now I'm thinking that maybe I can come back and finish once the Dark Lord eats it." Draco was thinking about how he wouldn't be allowed to come back next year after being involved in Snape's plan to off Dumbledore. Or if things went the other way, he'd still be in hiding after not fulfilling the Dark Lord's orders. Either way he wouldn't be here and most likely he'd be hiding somewhere safe with mother.

"Yeah, I feel you, but until Dumbledore breaks down this game plan that he's been working on, I don't know where to start. But enough talk of Voldemort; he's not here and he's not going to ruin our lives," Harry insisted, deliberately leaving out the mention of Horcruxes. He didn't want to spoil their time together and he didn't know where to start looking for the next Horcrux, and even if he did, he couldn't share that with Draco, so there was no point bringing it up. "What do you want to do today? The come-and-go room is open with possibilities."

"Um, do you want to sit down on the couch?" Draco asked. He wanted to talk more about what Harry had showed him yesterday and he wanted to be sitting down for that discussion.

Sitting on the couch worked well for snogging and reading sex books, which is what he wanted to do, so he smiled, nodded, and led Draco by the hand over to the loveseat in the little hut. Draco plopped down first and Harry sat down next to him, hoping his boyfriend would want to snuggle again like their first date.

"Harry, I wanted to talk to you about the memory you showed me," Draco began and Harry instantly knew that this couldn't be good, but he stayed silent and nodded, to see where Draco was going with this. "You shared with me how you felt about it and I appreciate that, but I just wanted to make sure you understood how I felt during it. I want you to use legilimency on me and see that day from my perspective."

'Okay, so not a break-up; maybe we're moving forwards,' Harry thought. "But I don't know legilimency Draco."

"I know, but two days ago I didn't know it either. It's completely different from occlumency, so don't even go saying I had that as an advantage."

Harry wanted to make a joke to the effect of, 'You just want me to relive your emotional garbage after I subjected you to mine,' but he thought better of it and kept the words from coming out of his mouth. Instead he nodded his head, gulped, and said, "Okay, I'll try. How do I do it?"

Draco spent half an hour giving Harry a quick tutorial and then Harry spent half an hour trying to make the stupid spell work. But he wasn't trying too hard, because he secretly hoped it wouldn't work at all and their two hours of alone time together would pass without him having to see the bathroom incident from his boyfriend's perspective. He already knew it was bad and he didn't want to know just how bad. What if there was more Draco had kept from him? What if he was a monster?

The setting fake-sun going down over the gentle waves caught Harry's eyes through the window. At that moment he really wished that Draco had wanted to go swimming or snorkeling or anything else but sit on this couch, even if it meant never getting to his sex book. And in that moment, he absent-mindedly cast the legilimens that penetrated Draco skull and linked him directly to his brain. It took Harry a good ten minutes to get his bearings, but he already knew that he should be seeing _the_ bathroom, and that helped.

The bathroom from Draco's eyes and colored with Draco's emotions finally came into focus. It was hot and horny and steamy, but then his senses seamed to shut down until he was left with only touch. And then that stopped too when the pain hit and he was out. Harry hadn't known that Draco was already beginning to pass out from over-excitement before he even entered him! If he'd known that, he would've stopped right then and avoided this whole mess!

But Harry didn't have a time-turner, so he kept watching through an indiscriminate darkness and an undetermined amount of time. Waiting for the blackness to end made everything seem very scary to Harry, like anything could be happening in the world outside and he wouldn't know. Then the sense of sight was back and Harry was there pointing a wand at him and his arse was on fire. The other senses came back too as Draco struggled to get away from Harry and stop the pain and he ended up falling off the sink. The whole thing was filled with agonizing pain, humiliation, and an unknown feeling that Harry had never felt before. He decided that it was probably the violation that Draco had told him about in the hospital. It felt awful.

Harry broke the spell and began to cry as he pulled his knees up to his chest. Draco too had just relived the horrible experience, for what he hoped would be the last time, and tears were trickling down his face, but he was trying to control it and hold himself back from all out sobbing.

Fifteen minutes later, Draco looked at his watch and was the first to speak. "Merlin's pants! Look at the time; you better go or you'll miss dinner!" He could sneak down to the kitchens himself, but Harry couldn't, because Harry had detention with Professor Snape again.

"I don't want to go," Harry replied. He had stopped crying, but he didn't feel like putting on a smiling face and acting like nothing had happened and he hadn't even gotten to the worse part with the sectumsempra.

"But you'll miss dinner and you've got detention right after," Draco argued.

"What about you? Do you feel like going?" Harry asked, reaching out and wiping the tears off Draco's face.

"No, I was just gonna pop into the kitchen and get something," Draco answered.

"Why don't we have dinner together then? Right here?" Harry motioned towards the table on the fake-outdoors patio.

"No food," Draco replied.

"Dobby," Harry called.

Dobby appeared instantly with a loud pop and said, "Yes Harry Potter, sir. Can Dobby be getting anything for the great Harry Potter, sir? Dobby is honored to serve Harry Potter, sir."

"Yes Dobby, can you get me and Draco some dinner?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Harry Potter, sir. Dobby will get a most wonderful dinner, sir. What would Harry Potter, sir, like Dobby to get?"

"What do you want Draco?" Harry asked, turning to his boyfriend.

"Do you have any of your cherry cheesecake Dobby? And lamb kabobs with mashed potatoes and squash?" Draco asked hopefully. These were all foods Dobby had served him at the manor, but other than the mashed potatoes and squash, they weren't things he'd had at Hogwarts.

"Yes Draco Malfoy, sir. Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes, sir," Dobby said.

"Thanks Dobby," Harry replied. The elf apparated with a sniffle and Harry was grateful not to have to endure another rant on what a good wizard he is for thanking an elf. Draco was looking at him funny, so he asked, "What?"

"Is thanking the elves part of Grangers house elf club?" Draco asked. He didn't really want to get into it, but Harry had caught him staring.

"Yeah, but Ron and I aren't in her club. It's just her," Harry replied.

"Why's that Potter?" Draco asked with a smirk. He was still a little down from the legilimency, so he didn't laugh.

"Because other than Dobby, none of the elves I've met want to be free," Harry answered honestly. He tried to support Hermione, but some of her ideas were just too radical for him.

"Yeah, that's because they have to be bound to a family to reproduce. Dobby doesn't have a wife or kids and he's actually a fairly young elf, so he has years before he needs to think about that," Draco explained. "And father is awful to all our elves, but then father's awful to almost everyone."

"Is he awful to you?" Harry asked curiously, now that Draco was opening up to him.

"No, not if I toe the line. Make fun of muggleborns and such," Draco answered. "He pretty much spoiled me rotten."

Harry didn't know what to say to that, so he just smiled and took Draco's hand again. He led them out to the beach. The last rays of sun were setting, so they watched in silence. Then they turned to the table and a chandelier overhead lit up with hundreds of candles.

"I didn't notice that there before. Was it there before?" Harry asked.

"No, it definitely wasn't here last weekend, but I think it might've been there earlier today. I can't quite recall whether it was or wasn't; I didn't look that closely," Draco answered.

They heard another pop and two plates filled with lamb, mash potatoes, and squash appeared on the table. Harry pulled out the chair for Draco, before sitting opposite him and taking his left hand in his across the table, like how they had sat for dinner their first night.

"I wonder why the sun set so much earlier tonight than it did Saturday night," Draco commented.

"You're right it did set earlier…maybe because we have to leave earlier," Harry suggested.

"Yeah, that must be it," Draco said, digging into his food.

When they finished, their plates disappeared and were replaced with plates of cherry cheesecake. "Yum," Draco said. "So what did you want to do this weekend?"

"Come back here, of course," Harry answered, smiling. He waved his fork around to indicate the beach and the lilac forest.

"What do you want to do here? Anything in particular or snorkeling again?" Draco was trying to figure out how he should dress. If they were doing the beach again he would have to wear his trunks and a light summer robe.

"Snorkeling sounds good, but there was something else I had in mind that I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh?"

"Well, I got this book on wizard sex and I've been reading about how to give blow jobs," Harry said, diving right in. Draco started choking when he heard the words blow and job, so maybe he should've led up to it more. He got up and patted Draco on the back. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, but maybe next time wait until I finish eating to say things like that," Draco replied when he finished coughing. Bad table manners were embarrassing, but Harry's comment was inappropriate for the dinner table.

"Okay, are you done eating now?" Harry asked with a smirk.

Draco quickly ate the last few bites of his dessert, swallowed, and washed it down with water, before saying, "Okay, now I'm done." He was nervous about what Harry was going to say and mentally preparing to bolt for the door.

"So, as I was saying, I've been reading about blow jobs and how to give them, but it would help if I had someone to practice on. I was hoping you might be willing to let me practice on you." Draco was silent for several minutes, so Harry added, "I wouldn't be expecting you to reciprocate, of course. You'd be doing me a favor, so I wouldn't ask you for anything more."

"Um, so you want to put _your_ mouth on _my_ bits, but I don't have to touch yours?" Draco asked, just to make sure he understood. He had decided not to run after all, but to wait and hear Harry out, as long as he wasn't proposing to do any of that right now; he needed time to think before he made that kind of decision and he needed all the information.

"Well yes. I was thinking we could work up to it. First I'd start by wanking you and when we were both comfortable with that, maybe in a week or two, I'd move on to using my mouth."

"The boy's in my dorm are always talking about blow jobs. Word is Tracey gives a great one; Vince swears by them and she's given one to every boy in our year except me. Although, Theo's pretty happy with Daphne's bjs and Blaise prefers Pansy's bjs," Draco said. Harry had made him uncomfortable and he thought he'd return the favor by volunteering what he knew about blow jobs.

"So every boy in your dorm, but you, has had one?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. What about in your dorm? Who is it, Lavender, who services all the bits in lofty Gryffindor tower?" Draco asked.

"Well she's dated a few boys, but I don't think it's anything like that." Harry was somewhat offended that Draco was implying that Lavender was a slag.

"She's dated a few in Slytherin alone. Both Vince and Greg were considering full out fucking her, even though it might cost them a proper marriage. Blaise has let her service him, but at least he's not stupid enough to consider sleeping with her. And I know for a fact that she's slept with Justin Finch-Fletchley in Hufflepuff, but then he's muggle born, so his reputation doesn't really matter to him, does it now?"

"Why do you know all this? I didn't know any of it, except for that Lavender has dated Ron, Seamus, and Justin."

"I heard she more than dated Seamus, but then he's half muggle, so again he doesn't give a shite about a reputation. But in Slytherin house, everyone knows everything that's going on. We keep close tabs on all the other students, so we don't get swindled in a bad marriage contract," Draco admitted.

"What?"

"Well say Blaise and Lavender start dating and want to get marriage and she told him she's a virgin and her folks wanted his family to put up a large sum of money in the marriage contract to get her. Blaise's father's long dead and his mother's remarried and the new husband probably won't want to hand over much money, especially because he's got his own two kids. Blaise would probably end up working his arse off for ten years to save up the money to satisfy Lavender's parents. But, since we all know she's a slag, her parents can't ask much money and will settle for whatever she's offered. Blaise could just take her off their hands for nothing more than what he's got in his tiny trust-fund, without having to work for ten years," Draco explained.

"Oh, I didn't know about all that," Harry replied.

"Well now you do," Draco said.

"Isn't Blaise with Pansy?" Harry asked curiously.

"For now, but he doesn't have enough money right now to put in an offer like her father wants. It depends on who wins the war really; if the Dark Lord loses, Pansy's family's reputation goes down and Blaise's won't, so he might still be able to win her hand."

"So back to my earlier question, can I wank you this weekend?" Harry asked in a very forward manner.

'Shite, he's persistent,' Draco thought. He had been hoping to side-track Harry with the change of topic and give himself more time to think about it, but now that they were right back to it, he'd have to go with the truth. "Maybe. Can I have some time to think about it?"

"Yeah, sure. Take all the time you need, just let me know when you're ready," Harry replied smiling. It wasn't a done deal, but Draco hadn't run and was considering it, so he thought his chances were pretty good.

"Okay. You better get going or Professor Snape will give you another detention," Draco said. They still had a few more minutes of dinner left, but he had enough to think about and didn't want to give Harry the chance to spring anymore surprises on him. Maybe he could go see mother Saturday morning and talk to her about this…okay, maybe not mention the blow job and the wanking, but ask her about moving forwards in a relationship with Harry. That would involve telling his mother that he was in a relationship with Harry, but she was currently staying in Harry's house, so the prospects were looking up.

"Yeah, I'll go, but what time do you want to meet here on Saturday for our date?" Harry asked.

"How about after lunch; that worked well last time," Draco answered.

"And then we can stay for dinner?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, we can have dinner together," Draco replied with a smile.

"Brilliant! Gotta run," Harry said leaning over and giving Draco a chaste kiss before grabbing his backpack and running off to Snape's detention.

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Author's Note: What did you think of the reverse legilimency? What do you think Draco's answer to the big question should be? There may be a wank coming up soon…

Please review! No one reviewed last chapter :(


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Note: The chapter has been heavily censored and a lemon has been removed. If you wish to read the uncensored version, please go to adultfanfiction.

Also I would like to thank everyone who has left me a review! Your reviews are awesome and are the inspiration needed to keep the updates frequent :)

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Draco had Thursday night and all day Friday to think about Harry's proposal. Was he ready to let Harry wank him? He had been ready three weeks ago, but now he wasn't so certain. And when he still didn't know Friday night, he decided to pay his mother a visit. He got permission from Professor Snape and then left through the floo in his office. Harry had been in there serving another detention, so Draco waved to him as he left.

Mother was doing well and told him that Professor Snape had already put a fidelius charm on their villa in France, but there were still several other charms he needed to add before she could move. Her long-estranged sister, Aunt Andromeda, had been stopping by and keeping her company, along with a cousin he had never met, apparently named Dora, but went by Tonks.

"If we're going to be traitors, we might as well be blood-traitors too," mother said in explanation of why she was communicating with the undesirables in the family again.

Draco thought that that comment was a good sign that mother might approve of his relationship with Harry, so he bit his lip a bit and then told her. He didn't tell her everything, especially the rape, and he didn't mention that they were already dating. Instead he kept it simple and said, "Harry Potter has asked me out on a date, with the intention of courting me for marriage as soon as he kills the Dark Lord. What do you advise I do mother?"

Mother looked at him funny for a moment, then gave him a hug, and said, "Do what's in your heart, my fierce dragon. Just do it covertly until the war ends. It will be good to have a Potter in the family."

Draco was encouraged by that statement and proceeded to tell his mother about all of Harry's better qualities, such as an attraction and desire for her son. Mother seemed agreeable and even smiled at him frequently, and saying things like, "My little boy is going up." Did all mothers have to say that? Draco was fairly sure there was a mothering handbook that included the necessity for such statements.

Mother also mentioned the need for them to build ties with Dumbledore's side, in order to plan for all eventualities, including that the Dark Lord would not win. She certainly didn't tell him to all out and abandon his old friends, instead encouraging him to be discreet about his shifting loyalties. She also encouraged him to form new ties, or strengthen existing ties, with non-Death Eaters. So overall, Draco took his mother's advice as quite encouraging of his possible relationship with Harry.

Mother's opinion carried a lot of weight with Draco and after spending the night and morning with his mother, he was ready to go back to Hogwarts and tell Harry just what he decided.

When he got to the room of requirement, the door was already visible, as usual, so he opened it and went right in. Harry had been over at the beach, but when he heard the door, he looked up, before running to greet Draco with a hug and a light kiss on the cheek. Draco encouraged him, so he deepened the kiss to an all-out snog, but Draco stopped him.

"Fancy a snog on the beach?" Draco asked.

"Merlin, yeah," Harry replied with a grin, as he and Draco started walking the short distance to the beach.

"Let me just change first. Do you already have your trunks on then?" Draco asked.

"Um no, I don't. I was kind of wondering if you wanted to get your broom and go for a fly before we get in the water," Harry answered.

"Yeah, a fly sounds nice; I'll just go get my broom then," Draco replied.

"Wait, you don't have to go just yet. We could snog a bit first," Harry suggested with a smirk.

"No, because if I return to the dungeons with swollen lips then everyone's gonna want to know what I was doing," Draco replied, being familiar with the great number of gossips in his house.

"Please?"

"No, you'll just have to wait."

"Fine," Harry conceded. "But be quick?"

"Yeah, sure thing," Draco replied, before taking off to retrieve his broom. Draco was considering accio'ing it, but thought that might cause notice if any of the intervening corridors were crowded and the last thing he wanted was for someone to notice that he was holed up in the room of requirement with the boy who lived.

While Harry waited, he began to miss Draco and wish that he hadn't suggested flying, so he went over to his backpack, which he had left on the dresser in the hut, and checked where Draco was. Harry found Draco's dot in the hallway just outside the Great Hall and heading quickly back in his direction, so Harry tucked the map away and went back to the beach. It wasn't that he didn't want Draco to know he had the map, but more that he didn't want Draco to know that he'd been checking on him. Harry did that a lot these days, but then he'd been doing that a lot all year, so he didn't think anything of it. It was a sort of subconscious habit these days.

Draco returned quickly with his broom and he and Harry went for a fly around the room. Draco enjoyed the feel of the wind in his hair and the view was nice as they flew over lilac forests and azure oceans; he even spotted the outline of a shark in the water and white peacocks in the forest. He pointed them out to Harry, who seemed amazed that the animals could be inside the castle, so Draco took the liberty of reminding him that they were just transfigured, likely off of their own memories. Draco had peacocks in their garden at home, but had never seen a shark before in real life, only in books.

"I saw a television program once about sharks," Harry said as they flew.

Draco didn't know what a television program was, but he didn't say anything about it, because he found it difficult to communicate while flying. In Quidditch it was a necessity, but to him, it was a pain and he would rather just fly. He and Harry made three laps around the room, before Draco headed down and Harry followed behind him. Although, the room wasn't all that high, so Draco didn't have far at all to go before he landed.

"Maybe we can go for a fly outside sometime. Then we can get some real altitude," Harry said when he landed, leaning his broom up against the hut on the dining patio side, next to Draco's.

"I don't really want to go back to the Quidditch team and death defying stunts. I just did that to get your attention. I have it now, so I don't need Quidditch. I'd rather fly in here and ask the room for a better view if you're bored of this one," Draco said, taking Harry's hand.

Harry smiled and started swinging their hands back and forth like he had seen the other muggle children do when he was little. "You certainly do have my attention and I like this view. I really do want to try snorkeling again; the cool water will be nice after a good fly," Harry replied.

"Yeah, okay. I'll just go change then," Draco said grabbing his school bag. Harry nodded so he headed towards the bathroom.

Harry changed his clothes in the sitting room portion of the hut, while Draco changed in the bathroom. He went as quickly as possible, to be sure that he was done first and that Draco wouldn't walk out on anything questionable when he exited the bathroom. He told Draco that he would wait for him to decide he was ready to take their relationship to the next level and he meant it. Therefore he was trying his hardest not to push Draco into anything today and had not even mentioned wanking.

Draco changed slowly, wanting to give Harry enough time to change. He took off his school robes and changed into his swim trunks and his light summer robes, which was similar to a long, flowing shirt. It was the same indigo blue as his trunks and he normally wore this kind of robes when he went to the beach, not that he had gotten to go anywhere exotic last summer, what with father in Azkaban, but he and mother had still gone to the coast once.

Harry was wearing one of the white t-shirts and the green and lilac trunks from the dresser in the hut. He had been unsure of what Draco meant by summer robes, but now that he saw it, he realized that it was similar enough to a t-shirt.

Harry and Draco walked hand-in-hand down to the beach and found a pair of beach towels in the supply cabinet. They each grabbed one and laid them out on the beach, all the while Harry kept giving Draco playful little kisses. Once the towels were down, the boys followed, and Harry started snogging Draco in earnest.

Snogging Harry still felt just as good as it had the first time, only now Draco was a little more used to it and knew what to expect. The contact still sent tingles down his spine and caused a throbbing and pulsating in his trunks. And his heart rate and breathing still sped up like he was playing Quidditch or in an intense duel. But there was also this fluttering in his stomach that seemed to grow and expand with anticipation each time. Only now it wasn't sensory overload and his vision and other senses didn't go black anymore.

Now he could see Harry's bright green eyes magnified through the glasses, so that they appeared even larger than they naturally were. He could see the thick black hair that Harry didn't seem to know how to comb and that inspired him to reach out and take hold of it, sifting the silky strands through his fingers. He could see the blush of Harry's cheeks and hear the pant of his breath that signaled that he was aroused too. And finally he noticed that Harry liked to lie on his stomach when they were snogging, propping himself up on his forearms, and make little motions in the sand underneath him.

Harry found that Draco was very responsive and had a tendency to arch his back into his touch when his hand run up underneath the summer robe and brushed against Draco's pert little nipples or his firm lower abdomen, with the slight chiseling Harry loved so much. Draco also had a tendency to moan and writhe back and forth, and between that and the arching, Harry found it very hard not to ravage his sexy boyfriend, or at the very least, hump the ground. Harry was always highly aroused whenever he was snogging Draco; thus Harry was quite proud of himself for resisting.

Draco spent about five minutes trying to figure out what Harry was doing with his hips in the sand, before deciding that whatever it was, it was hot. Draco considered telling Harry about his decision to let Harry wank him, but he stopped himself, thinking that they would never get around to snorkeling if Harry wanked him first, because he would probably fall asleep afterwards. Either that or it would be awkward and Draco didn't want his time snorkeling to be awkward, so instead, he pushed Harry back and said, "Maybe we should snorkel now, eh?"

"Yeah, let's have a go," Harry replied, jumping up and offering his hand to Draco to help him up. Harry liked doing the little things for Draco and Draco seemed to like letting him do them, so it worked out well.

Draco sorted out the snorkel gear and made sure Harry's was on right before he put his own on and got in the water. The water was just the perfect temperature; warm, but not hot enough to boil the fish. Draco watched in amusement as once again Harry struggled to enter the water. Harry could be so graceful in the air or in the middle of a battle, but at other times, he seemed more like a fish out of water.

Finally Harry was ready and he followed Draco in a circle around the indoor ocean. They saw some of the fish from the previous time, but this time they also saw a pair of giant sea turtles. Harry couldn't believe how big they were, as one was about four and a half feet long and the other was over five feet long. Draco said that was normal for sea turtles, but he also thought they should stop and watch the turtles for an extended period on time. Mostly the turtles stayed in one place and ate algae off the sea floor, but they saw one rise to the surface and gulp in air for a good five minutes before diving down again.

Eventually Draco signaled that they should continue on. They saw some more fish and coral and even some black crabs and a few red sea anemones, but nothing nearly as cool as the sea turtles. Harry seemed fascinated by it all, but they had been in the water for over an hour and Draco was starting to get tired, so he led them back to the shore, casting a pair of drying charms as they got out and laid back down on the towels.

Harry instantly went right back to where he'd left off with the snogging; all hot and bothered and violating the sand in a way that wasn't entirely pleasant for his bits, but after a minute, Draco interrupted him again, rising up on his elbows. "Harry?"

"Yeah?" Harry asked, kissing Draco again.

"Do you still want to wank me?" Draco asked.

Harry answered with a very forceful kiss that pushed Draco back into the ground. "That was a yes," Harry said after a minute, just to be clear, but mostly to give Draco a chance to finish what he was saying.

"So I was thinking that it would be alright if you wanked me, provided it went no further than wanking," Draco said after taking a minute to catch his breath. Harry had a way of taking his breath away that just seemed to be natural to him.

"Um, is now alright?" Harry asked just to make sure.

*censored

When Draco came back to awareness again, he was lying on the beach, naked, with a mess on his stomach, which was slightly unpleasant. It reminded Draco of being covered in bubotuber pus, without the burning boils. Next he noticed Harry kneeling over him and staring down at him in wonder.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked, seeing Draco blink up at him. Draco hadn't moved in a minute and he was beginning to think he had passed out or gone to sleep.

"Better than," Draco replied dreamily.

"It was good for you then?" Harry asked and Draco nodded. "Good."

"Did you like doing it?" Draco asked lazily. He wanted an indication of how likely he was to get Harry to agree to do that to him again, because it was fantastic and he definitely wanted to do it again.

"Oh yeah. You put on quite the show."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I sort of came in my pants watching it," Harry admitted, leaving out the part about him shoving a hand down his own pants towards the end. Watching Draco had provided him with enough mental stimulation that he only needed that little bit of physical touch to get him off. "Is there always so much?" Here Harry indicated the mess on Draco's belly. There certainly hadn't been a pool this big in his pants. Of course he had used one of his new sex spells to vanish his own mess before Draco returned to consciousness; the wand-holster on his leg kept his wand handy in and out of the water.

"No, but it's been awhile. I guess it built up," Draco replied. "Fancy a quick shower to clean up?"

"Yeah, but actually I was wondering if you'd let me use a vanishing spell on you that I learned from my new book. It's super gentle, so it can be done on the body and I've been practicing it on myself and it doesn't hurt," Harry replied.

Draco had to think about that for a minute. He didn't like the idea of Harry pointing his wand at him while he was naked, but on the other hand he wanted the mess off of him and there was a lot of it currently on him. It would be convenient if Harry were to just vanish it. On the other hand, Harry wasn't particularly gifted with charms the way he was defensive magic and Draco had a bathroom available.

"How about I wipe it off of me onto the beach and you vanish it off the sand?" Draco proposed a compromise. Maybe next time he would trust Harry to do it directly off of his body, but for now he wanted proof that Harry really could cast the spell correctly.

Harry nodded and seeing as his hands were already dirty, he reached down and started swiping at the mess to get it to fall to one side. Draco tilted his chest, coming up on one arm, so that gravity would help Harry's efforts.

Although they did manage to get most of it off of Draco, Draco still felt absolutely disgusting. "Is it alright if I take the first bath?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, go ahead," Harry replied before vanishing the left over mess from the sand and then from his hands.

"Okay, you do seem to know a cleaning charm and you didn't scream in pain," Draco conceded, standing up and beginning to walk towards the house. "I'll be quick."

"Take your time," Harry replied, not wanting to rush his boyfriend and wishing they were at the showering together stage already…although the shower in that bathroom was too small for two, so he'd have to ask for a larger shower or they'd have to use the tub.

Draco was out of the bath and redressed in his summer robes and swimming trunks in under fifteen minutes. Harry showered next and was out in even less time. He threw on his borrowed beach clothes and went back outside to find Draco. Draco was kneeling on a board in the water, near the hut. Only now there was the addition of three large black boulders that separated the hut from the water, instead of the sandy beach that had been there earlier. The board Draco was on looked like a surf board, but it was longer and there was a paddle resting on it along with a pile of what looked to Harry like small black stones.

"What're you doing?" Harry asked approaching the black boulders from the beach-side.

When Draco saw him, he stood up and waved, before picking up the paddle and using it to push the board back towards the sandy shore.

"Getting a snack. I was hungry and started thinking about what I'd eat if I was really at a tropical beach like this and then the lava rocks and long board materialized, so I decided to look and I found some. Though, I'm not sure if they'll disappear from my stomach the moment I leave the room or not…" Draco replied trailing off at the end. By now he had landed the board back on the sandy beach. He threw down the paddle next to the board and bent down to pick up his pile of treats.

"What are those things?" Harry asked, pointing to Draco's black stones.

"Limpids. They're like snails or claims that attach themselves to the rocks. They only have one shell on top and they use their one giant foot on the bottom as a suction cup to keep themselves attached to the rocks. They're filter feeders," Draco answered handing Harry one of the larger ones to examine.

Now that Harry had one of the limpids up close, he could see that it had dark purple ribbed shell, like one half of a clam, with some greenish brown gunk stuck to the top. The bottom contained a dark grey blob that tentatively stuck a snail head out from between the foot and the shell. He touched it, and the animal quickly retracted its head.

"Cool. What are you gonna do with them?" Harry asked.

"Eat them, of course. I said they were for a snack, didn't I?" Draco asked. "Come on, let's take them to the table.

"I'm not sure it's such a good idea to eat food from here. These clothes vanished after I took them off last week. Then they reappeared in the drawers here," Harry said as he followed Draco over to the table, where Draco set down his pile of limpids. "And how are we gonna cook them?"

"Well I ate that can of nuts I found last week and I didn't get sick, so I'm gonna try it. And we don't cook them silly. We eat them raw," Draco explained, picking up two limpids. He used the shell of the smaller limpid to scrape the snail body of the other limpid out of its shell. Then he sucked the grey body into his mouth and enjoyed his little treat.

Harry watched in wonder and revulsion as Draco ate the snail-like creature. He had never had snails before, but he was told they were a delicacy. 'Draco's probably had all sorts of gross delicacies growing up spoiled rich,' Harry thought.

"Here, try one," Draco said, holding a pair of limpids out to Harry.

"No thanks. I'd rather watch you eat them and make sure you don't puke it up first," Harry replied.

"I puked this morning when I woke up at your house. I think your senile elf must've fed me spoiled food last night. It's probably time to off his head and hang it on the wall," Draco said as he used the now empty shell to remove the limpids from another shell. Then he plopped the small body into his mouth and smiled.

"Eww. And you're telling me this why?" Harry asked. Between Draco's words and his actions, Harry was getting grossed out.

"Because if I puke, I'm sure it won't be from eating this perfectly fresh seafood that I just caught myself, but from eating your elf's cooking last night," Draco explained, continuing to enjoy his snack.

"We never let Kreacher cook for us; Mrs. Weasley always did it. His cocking is that bad huh? Did your mum get sick too?" Harry asked. Maybe he should arrange for more pleasant meals to be served to Draco's mum.

"Well it tasted fine and mother didn't get sick; but then mother's been there for a week now and she's had that elf's cooking before, back when my great aunt was still alive," Draco explained.

"Your great aunt is certainly something. Does she screech and holler at you and your mum like she does everyone else?" Harry asked curiously.

"Um no, Aunt Walburga and her portraits have always been very nice to me; we have a portrait of her back at the Manor," Draco explained with a slurp.

"Really? That's hard for me to believe that that woman could be nice to anyone. I thought that portrait was designed to be nasty to everyone," Harry replied.

"Last week she greeted me pleasantly and asked me if I still had a toy she gave me that last time I saw her before she died. I said I did. She said she'd like to see it next time I came. This time I took the toy with me and showed her and a smile lit up her face. She told me I was a nice young man and that she was proud to have me as a descendent."

"Wow, okay, that does sound like she was being nice. But how did you get the toy, without going back to the Manor? Don't tell me you risked going home and being captured by Death Eaters to make a portrait happy."

"No, I didn't go home. Before I left for school, I packed up all of my belongings and shrunk them into my trunk, because I didn't know if I'd ever be able to come back. All I had to do to get the toy was to pull my trunk out from under the bed, find the toy, and resize it."

"Do you still have all your old toys?" Harry wondered.

"No, not all of them. But I have one from each of my grandparents and great aunts and uncles… I don't have any from my aunts, but neither of them ever gave me anything," Draco answered, getting down to the end of the shells. He picked up the last one and held it out to Harry. "Are you sure you don't want the last one?"

"Um, no thanks. You have it," Harry replied, pushing Draco's hand and the shellfish back towards Draco, who shrugged and ate it.

"I'll take the shells to my mother; she can make a necklace or something of them. It'll give her something to do," Draco said, piling up the shells neatly.

Harry wasn't sure what to say to that. He gathered that Draco's mum must be the crafty sort if she could turn Draco's trash into a necklace and that reminded him of Luna and her cork necklace. But he wasn't sure if he should mention that to Draco or not, so he just sat there smiling as he watched Draco pick up the shells and head towards the hut. He got up and followed him and watched Draco put the shells into his school bag.

"Do you have time to meet here again tomorrow?" Draco asked as he returned his school bag to the floor by the loveseat. He knew Harry had a lot of homework and detention and didn't want to occupy all of his time, but he did want to see him again.

"For you, of course I can make time!" Harry exclaimed pulling Draco into his arms and kissing him softly.

"I just don't want you to get behind on your homework," Draco replied, pulling back from Harry's lips just far enough to talk.

"I'll manage, but if you need to do homework, we could do some together. We've got a bit of time before dinner," Harry suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Draco replied, picking his school bag back up.

Harry too got out his school things and the boys did homework peacefully together for half an hour until Dobby popped in with dinner. It was delicious pulled pork sandwiches this time along with a crisp green salad and dessert was a plate of sweet island fruit. But all too soon it was over and Harry had a detention to head off to. He and Draco shared one last kiss before he left their room.

* * *

Author's Note: I'll be out of State attending my brother's wedding all this week, so whether or not I get another chapter up will depend on how much internet access I have there. Updates will be regular again next week!


	15. Chapter 15

Author's Note: The chapter has been heavily censored and a lemon has been removed. If you wish to read the uncensored version, please go to adultfanfiction.

* * *

"Harry, Ron, I was thinking that we could start tackling our Charms essay after lunch. I know you have Quidditch in the morning and the defense essay is due first, so we'll work on that after Quidditch, but we've got the whole afternoon free to work on Charms," Hermione said at breakfast the next day.

A noise that sounded like, "Urgh," came out of Ron's mouth, but he didn't elaborate on that thought.

"Actually Hermione, I'll be working on my occlumency again after lunch," Harry replied.

"You spent half the day yesterday on occlumency. Are you making any progress? I was thinking that maybe I could learn occlumency too and help you with it. It's a fascinating subject, really," Hermione said.

"That's nice of you to offer, but I think I'm good. What I've been doing is working," Harry replied, trying to brush her off.

"And what have you been doing? Snape's not teaching you again, is he?" She lowered her voice for the last bit, so that it wouldn't carry over the table to the other students.

"No, he's not," Harry whispered back.

"Then how've you been working on it by yourself? I don't see any way that someone can learn to keep someone else out of their mind when there isn't anyone trying to get in," Hermione reasoned.

"I've found someone to help me, who isn't Snape, and who already knows occlumency. Snape's teaching him legilimency and he's practicing on me and I'm practicing on him," Harry reluctantly admitted. When Hermione was onto something, she really wouldn't let it go until she got an answer, so he figured it was best to give in and tell her a partial truth.

"Who is it Harry?" Hermione asked curiously.

"I can't tell you that. He doesn't want anyone to know he's helping me," Harry whispered.

"Why doesn't he want anyone to know?" She just wouldn't let it go.

"He's in Slytherin and doesn't want it to get out that he's not in Voldemort's pocket like the rest of them."

"That's very risky Harry! What if he _is_ in Voldemort's pocket and is lying to you to get information."

"He's not."

"Yes, but how do you know?"

"Snape trusts him. He's the one that set it up during one of my detentions." Harry hoped that Hermione would be satisfied with that, because he couldn't think of anything else he could tell her without telling her the full truth. As it was, he felt a change in subject was in order, "I'm almost done with the pieces for my essay for his detentions, but I'm stuck with how to work the pieces together. Maybe you can help me with it tonight? I could ask Snape to let you join me in detention."

"Won't Malfoy be having detention again tonight?" Hermione asked.

"No, not until Tuesday. Snape favors him, so he lets Malfoy do them whenever he wants. He's only done two so far," Harry replied.

"And you think Snape would let me in, even without a detention? Isn't it supposed to be keeping you away from your friends as a punishment?"

"Honestly, it doesn't feel like punishment. Snape doesn't glare at me the way I thought he would. Now I'm thinking it was more of an excuse to get me to study defensive shields with him. He's been loads of help when it came to practicing them," Harry answered.

"That's strange. If he wanted to teach you something, why didn't he just ask you to come back for extra classes like he did last year?"

"He probably doesn't want to make it seem like he's helping me. He's a spy remember? He's got a reputation to maintain. He always glares and scowls at me when Malfoy's in the room, which he doesn't do when it's just the two of us."

"Yeah okay then," Hermione conceded.

"Sounds pretty creepy if you ask me; stuck in a room for three hours every night with that batty git?" Ron said, swallowing a large bite of food.

"Well if he lets me in, then I'll help you tonight, otherwise we can work on it tomorrow," Hermione said.

"Brilliant!" Harry replied, glad that was settled.

As planned, Harry and Ron went to Quidditch practice before working on their defense essay with Hermione. Then the three of them went down to lunch, but Harry didn't feel like having the slop the Great Hall was serving for lunch. He was anxious to see Draco again and he kept thinking about how much better the food tasted in the room of requirement, so he dug out his charmed galleon and tapped it with his wand, to signal Draco. He always kept his galleon on him, hoping Draco would start signaling him more. He was pretty busy these days, but he could squeeze in a quick snog every once in a while.

Draco felt the coin burning in his pocket. He hadn't used it to signal Harry for a meeting in over a week, but he felt connected to Harry when he had it on him, like he could always pull it out and communicate with his boyfriend in secret whenever he wanted, so he had it on him most of the time. He pulled it out and saw the word, "Now," was written on it. He glanced up and over at the Gryffindor table, to see that Harry was looking at him as he stood up and grabbed his bag. Harry looked down to say something to his friends and then looked back up at Draco. Draco nodded quickly before looking back to his plate and slipping the coin back into his pocket.

Once Harry saw Draco nod, he used a napkin to wrap up his sandwich to go. He grabbed the sandwich and told his friends he'd see them after dinner, before heading off to the room of requirement and tossing the sandwich in the bin on the way. He wanted them to think he was going to eat it while studying his occlumency book and not arranging a secret lunch date with Draco.

"I'm not hungry. I'm gonna go for a walk; I'll see you after dinner," Draco said to Pansy, who was sitting next to him and trying to talk with him about their history of magic homework.

Pansy looked at Draco curiously, but said, "Alright Draco, maybe we can work on it after dinner."

"Yeah sure," Draco said, standing up and grabbing his school bag, before heading out the door himself. He hoped no one would notice that he was following Harry.

"Dobby," Harry called as soon as he stepped into the lilac beach room.

"Yes Harry Potter, sir? How is Dobby helping Harry Potter, sir?" Dobby asked apparating in.

"Can you make me and Draco a nice lunch? Not the sandwiches the Great Hall is serving, but something…better?" Harry asked.

"Yes Harry Potter, sir. Dobby is getting Harry Potter, sir, a nice lunch," Dobby replied, disapparating out with another pop before Harry could thank him.

Draco opened the door then and found Harry standing right on the other side of it. Harry stepped aside to let Draco in and once the door was closed, enveloped him in a hug. Draco leaned in for a kiss and let his school bag fall to the floor.

"Dobby's getting us lunch," Harry said, breaking away from the sweet kiss. His backpack, too, was dropped there on the floor.

"Brilliant," Draco replied, letting Harry lead him over to the dining table.

Their food appeared right when Harry was pulling out Draco's chair for him. He then sat down in his own chair and reached across the table to join his left hand with Draco's left, the way they usual ate.

"Why is it that Dobby gives us the good stuff and the elves serve that rubbish in the Great Hall?" Draco asked looking down at his plate of pasta, sun-dried tomatoes, pine-nuts, broccoli, and chicken with garlic bread. "I'd never had peanut butter and jelly before coming to school here and it seems like they serve it every week!"

"I don't know, but I'm glad that we decided to skip the Great Hall and eat here instead," Harry replied, digging into his new lunch. He also hated peanut butter and jelly, but because the Dursleys had served it to him pretty much every day for lunch when he was a kid.

Draco dug in too, but quickly discovered that his chicken tasted funny. "I think there's something wrong with the chicken; it tastes bad," he said, after having to spit a piece discretely into his napkin.

"Are you sure? Mine tastes fine," Harry replied, deliberately eating another piece of chicken to test it and it too was fine; delicious even.

"Yeah, but I'll just eat the rest," Draco said. He was hungry and didn't want to wait for a third lunch.

"Can I have your chicken then?" Harry asked. He wanted to see if Draco's was different than his, because he didn't want Draco eating from a plate that had rancid chicken in it, especially after he had admitted to being sick the morning before.

"Yeah sure, have at it," Draco said, motioning with his fork.

Harry quickly scooted a few pieces of Draco's chicken onto his own plate before taking a bite. Draco's chicken tasted just as wonderful as his own had, so he swallowed it down with relish and said, "It tastes fine to me." It definitely wasn't spoiled, so he felt Draco was safe to eat the pasta without the chicken.

"Hmm, maybe I'm just not in the mood for chicken today," Draco replied, having pushed the rest of his chicken onto Harry's plate.

Harry and Draco enjoyed the rest of their meal along with the platter of island fruits that appeared on the table once their pasta plates vanished.

"So what did you want to do today?" Harry asked.

"I was thinking it'd be nice to go for a walk in the lilac forest. We've been to the beach, but not the garden," Draco suggested.

Harry hadn't thought there was much to see in the lilac forest, except lilacs, but they had seen the peacocks in the forest from their brooms yesterday, so he thought he'd give it a try. And he was willing to indulge Draco, especially because he wanted to wank him again today and possibly show him the sex book; it would be best if Draco was in a good mood before he tried anything.

"Sounds great," Harry replied, getting up from the table and taking Draco's hand again. He tried to wrap his arm around Draco's shoulders as they walked towards the lilac forest, but Draco was just a bit taller and him, so it was more comfortable to wrap his arm around Draco's waist. He was pleasantly surprised when Draco in turn wrapped his arm around Harry's shoulder. They walked like that into the forest and looked at all the flowers.

There wasn't much to see but lilacs at first, but Draco slowly led him around, arm-in-arm, so it felt nice. And after a few minutes, the scenery began to change and other types of flowers popped up. There were a few rose bushes with glorious large white blooms. There was a small pond with a few lilies growing in it. There were unfamiliar trees with vines growing along the trunks. The vines had white and purple flowers that Draco seemed to favor. Harry watched as Draco picked one and tucked it behind his ear, before reaching in and pulling out a yellow orb.

"What's that?" Harry asked curiously.

"Passion fruit. They're delicious," Draco said cracking one in half and handing half to Harry.

Harry wasn't sure what to do with the passion fruit. Was he supposed to eat it or smell it? And if he were to eat it, which part was edible? The outside looked a bit like a rind and the inside looked like a seed-filled slime. He decided it would be best to sniff it and then wait to see what Draco did with it.

Draco watched in amusement as Harry sniffed the delicious treat, before slurping the juicy seeds of his own piece down into his waiting mouth, using his tongue to make sure he got it all.

Harry saw Draco eating the slimy part and he heard Draco moaning in pleasure at the taste of the fruit. The sound went straight to his cock, but he tried to ignore that and instead followed Draco's lead in eating the slime. Only it didn't feel like slime on his tongue. Sure it was slippery, but it was mostly juicy, very sweet, and incredibly tangy and flavorful. Harry moaned and decided that that must be why they called it passion fruit.

Draco picked another passion fruit off the vine, cracked it in half, and gave half to Harry, before downing his half. He grabbed another, repeating the procedure and eating both halves when Harry hadn't kept up with him. They had a few more pieces of fruit between the two of them, before Draco decided it was time to move on and continue their walk. They saw a few peacocks and other birds and some more beautiful flowers, but just like the ocean-side of the room, the forest side too had limits, and it wasn't long before they finished their circle and came back to the dining patio.

"What do you want to do now?" Draco asked. His dick was half-hard from hearing Harry moan as they ate their passion fruit and he hoped Harry would say snogging.

"I want to wank you," Harry said seductively and he leaned up for a kiss.

Draco smiled into the kiss and agreed with that sentiment, so he nodded and let Harry lead them into the hut. They sat down on the couch and started snogging in earnest. Harry was snogging him so thoroughly that Draco barely noticed when his school robes were pulled up and his pants were pulled down. But he certainly noticed when Harry wanked him.

*censored

When Harry recovered, he looked up to find Draco's head lying on his chest. He looked relaxed and happy, but Harry didn't think he was asleep.

"Did you get it good?" Harry asked sated.

"Yeah," Draco breathed out with a happy sigh.

* * *

Author's Note: I decided to get one more chapter up before I leave. Please review.


	16. Chapter 16

Author's Note: This chapter has been censored, but I tried to leave enough of the scene in there for the story to still make sense.

In this chapter I finally explain the bit about the centaur ancestry and by the end of it, you should be able to tell where I got the story name Peverell's Children from.

* * *

"Can I clean us up?" Harry asked. He wanted to try that new spell.

"The mess is on you this time, so have at it," Draco replied, pushing himself up with his arms, so that he was straddling Harry's thighs and no longer lying in the way of the mess.

Harry looked down his chest to find a large white mess. He accio'ed his wand to him and it rose up out of the sleeve-pocket of his robes on the floor and into his hand. He quickly cleaned up the mess, before asking, "You want to wash up real quick?"

"Yeah," I'll go first," Draco replied, getting up and walking towards the bathroom.

Harry stopped Draco before he closed the door, saying, "Wait, let me get you a change of clothes for when you come out."

Draco hadn't bothered picking up his robes from where they lay on the floor, but now that Harry mentioned it, he probably should. But before he could retrieve them, Harry was up and pulling clothes out of the dresser along the wall.

"Here, put these on," Harry instructed, handing Draco a fresh pair of pants, a pair of pajama bottoms, and a white shirt from out of the drawer. He didn't want Draco to get dressed fully, because he wanted to do something else with him first.

"Yeah, okay," Draco replied, before going into the bathroom and bathing.

While Draco was in the bathroom, Harry cleaned up the sitting room. He hung up their school robes in the closet. He picked up their shoes and socks from where they landed after being kicked off their feet and put them on the floor in front of the closet. He folded Draco's old pants and set them on top of the dresser, while throwing his own pants in a basket at the bottom of the closet. He performed a few more cleaning spells on himself, including the one to clean his anus, before pulling out another pair of pants and pajama bottoms from the drawer and putting them on. Finally, he pulled out his sex book and sat back down on the loveseat to read, while he waited for Draco to finish.

Draco felt wonderful bathing in the warm relaxing water of the giant tub, but he knew Harry was waiting for him, so he tried to be quick about it. Once he had finished and toweled off, he tried on the pants Harry had given him. They were plenty big around the waist, but without the wizard space, his cock just wouldn't fit. Thus he wrapped a big fluffy white towel around himself and opened the door.

"Harry?" Draco called out.

"Yeah Draco?"

"These pants don't fit. Can I have my old ones back?" Draco asked.

"Yeah," Harry replied, retrieving the pants off the dresser and passing them through the door to Draco. He wasn't sure why the new pants didn't fit, because Draco seemed to be a similar size to him and the pants fit him fine. Then Harry started to worry about whether or not the pajamas would fit Draco. 'If the pajamas don't fit, it'll ruin my plans.'

"Thanks," Draco replied, closing the door once he had the pants in hand. He quickly dressed in them and then pulled on the pajamas Harry had given him, which fit fine thanks to the wizard-space in his own pair of pants. Finally he added the odd white shirt; it was clearly a muggle design and he wasn't used to it, but it wasn't too bad so he went with it.

"So what did you want to do next?" Draco asked when he came out of the bathroom and spotted Harry sitting on the couch in a similar pair of pajamas, but no shirt.

"Um, I kind of wanted to show you my book," Harry said, holding up the book he'd been reading.

"Don't you want to bathe?" Draco asked. There had been a lot of cum on Harry and he didn't particularly want to sit and cuddle with someone who smelled and was all crusty. He himself always bathed after wanking, but then he normally wanked in the bath to begin with.

"No, I used some more cleaning charms I found in this book. Why don't you come here?" Harry asked indicating the open spot on the loveseat next to him.

"Oh," Draco replied with trepidation. He hoped Harry was being honest and he really didn't stink. He slowly walked over to the loveseat and sat down next to Harry, reaching out a tentative hand to touch Harry's abs, to test for residue. He found none and was pleasantly surprised to find that Harry didn't stink of old cum.

"That tickles," Harry said.

"Um, so what did you want to show me?" Draco asked nervously. He wasn't sure he was ready to find out what Harry was thinking about.

"Well, um, I was reading about sex. Well the right way to have sex, not the way I did it, and I was thinking that you could do it to me when we get married," Harry began.

"Okay, then why don't we save this book until we get married?" Draco asked.

"Well there are a lot of spells, potions, and other preparation the book recommends to use before the first time. I think it'll all take some time and practice and well I was hoping you could make the potion. You know I'm pants at potions," Harry replied.

"Yeah, you are pants at potions. Fine, what do we need to do?" Draco asked, reluctantly agreeing to begin preparing.

"Well it says to start with a cleaning charm, which I did while you were in the bathroom. Then there is a stretching charm and a lubricating charm, which I could learn to do too. Then there's this part about using the fingers to stretch it out and make room for the penis. But it also says that if your partner has a big cock, like the ones in the pictures, that the stretching won't do. In that case it says to make this stretching potion and apply it once a day, using the fingers, for like three months. And then if the penis is really big, there's a spell to help it go in smoothly too. So if you could make the potion and start applying it to me with your fingers, then everything will be ready to go when we get married," Harry said. "I don't want to hold up the wedding night because we didn't plan ahead."

"How very considerate of you. Can I see the directions for the potion?" Draco asked.

Harry flipped to the back of the book and found the page with the right potion on it, before handing it over to Draco.

Draco read the page for a few minutes, before turning to Harry and saying, "I don't need to make this. It's a standard potion for purebloods and is available upon request from Professor Snape, Madam Pomfrey, or even…" Draco gulped, not wanting to say the name, but knowing Harry was more comfortable with this other person, "Dumbledore."

"Really?" Harry asked curiously.

"Yeah, didn't you go to an orientating meeting with Dumbledore yet?" Draco asked.

"Um no, but Professor Snape said he set me up with one for tomorrow. Dumbledore was away for a bit last week. Why? Have you?"

"Yeah, I went once first year," Draco admitted.

"I thought you didn't find out you were gay until last year?"

"Well yeah, but my parents always knew I was on the border there. They wanted me to be prepared, so I had to sit through one with Dumbledore and another one with Madam Pomfrey too. They both mentioned this potion needing to be used before sex, because of my size."

"Your parents know how big you are?" Harry asked surprised. He would be embarrassed if the Dursleys knew details like that about him…well Dudley probably knew, but he was his own age, not an adult.

"They knew since I was born. It's fairly common in pure-blooded families actually. 'The purer the blood the bigger the dick.'" The last was a fairly common saying among purebloods.

"They check?" Harry was a bit repulsed at the notion of checking a newborn's cock.

"Well it's medically important. It's associated with other problems that have to be treated at birth or the baby could get sick." Draco was somewhat embarrassed to be talking about this and wished that he was dating a pureblood who already knew about it. Harry should know, because he's only a half-blood. 'Stupid orphan not having a proper upbringing,' he thought silently.

"What kind of problems?" Harry asked, taking a large gulp of air and hoping that Draco was not about to tell him that pureblood babies were born with giant malformed cocks.

"Well it has to do with where the giant dicks come from; how they entered the pure-blooded family line," Draco began.

"Okay, go on," Harry replied, wondering where the giant cocks came from. 'Probably Merlin or someone gained a giant cock after a potion spill and it stuck.'

"Have you heard the story, The Witch and the Centaur?" Draco asked, wanting to get a bearing on just how much Harry didn't know.

"No…"

"How about the tale of The Three Brothers?"

"No…should I have?" Harry asked.

"Yes, they're common children's stories. Weasley and Longbottom would know them, but it doesn't matter; I'll just tell you myself," Draco said. "So The Witch and the Centaur is about a young maiden from a descent pureblooded family; the Ravenclaws actually. Mercia Ravenclaw was from a big family and had a lot of brothers and sisters. Her parents were having a hard time marrying all those kids off and as she was the youngest child, she was still single when she came into her adulthood. Mercia, like any young single witch, was a horny little pervert and liked to diddle herself in the forest, where the centaurs could see."

"This is a children's story?" Harry interrupted.

"Yeah, but it's told a bit differently for children, leaving out the naughty bits. Like instead of saying Mercia liked getting fucked by giant stallion dicks in the forest, it goes something like, 'One day Mercia met a charming centaur in the forest and fell in love.' But really I thought you'd be able to appreciate the grown-up version with Mercia getting it good from behind by a giant centaur dick," Draco replied.

"Okay, I get it, you can continue."

"With the adult version?" Draco asked and waited for Harry to nod before continuing. "Okay, where was I? So Mercia fell in love with a centaur and his big dick and they got married and had lots of hot centaur sex. They wanted children, but being of such different species, it was years before she ever got pregnant. Then the glorious half witch-half centaur hybrid child was born and it was great or something. Wynflaeth was her name and she looked like a typical, normal human; no centaur legs or mane or anything, except she was really magically gifted.

"Wynflaeth grew up and was much coveted for her powerful magic, so she ended up marrying into the Peverell family. She and Mr. Peverell had three boys and that's where the tale of The Three Brothers comes in, because it's about them. All three boys were very gifted and each made one of the three Hallows of Death, but that's another story and not terribly important, because all of the Hallows disappeared hundreds of years ago. Anyway, all three brothers were born with giant dicks, like mine, inheriting it from their centaurian grandfather. Have you ever seen a female centaur?" Draco stopped to ask.

Now that Harry thought about it, all the ones he had encountered in the forbidden forest were males. "No."

"That's because there aren't any. The whole race is made up of males…well they're not strictly male; they're really both male and female. They're hermaphrodites, like earthworms. Each centaur has the torso of a man and the body of a hermaphroditic horse: a set of utters for the fawn to suckle, followed by a big dick and a set of ballocks, then a vagina, and the anus, and finished off with the tail. Any centaur can fuck, be fucked, and carry the fawn. Have you ever looked in your magical beast book from first year at the centaur section?" Draco asked.

"No. I didn't use that book much," Harry admitted.

"I did. There's a picture of a centaur giving birth. Can you imagine one of their babies having to be pushed out through a vagina?"

"That sounds painful."

"It would be impossible, that's why centaurs have a special opening that forms on their stomachs when they're pregnant. The baby just drops out through that, like a magically induced cesarean section," Draco revealed.

"Yuck," Harry replied.

"Exactly. So the Peverell brothers were only a quarter centaur and only had some of the features, like the big dicks. They didn't have the hind quarters of a horse, but they still had the uterus and ability to conceive and carry a child as a female, only they lacked the vagina."

"Then how'd they get pregnant if they didn't have a vagina?" Harry asked curiously.

"They still had a cervix that opened up into the uterus, it's just comes out at the colon, instead of the vagina. If a Peverell wizard takes it up the arse by another Peverell wizard, he'll get pregnant and the baby will come out an opening in the stomach, just like a centaur," Draco explained.

"So you're a Peverell man and you could get pregnant if you had sex with another Peverell man, but what about me? Could we have a baby?" Harry asked. Part of him was concerned that he and Draco hadn't used protection in the bathroom and the other part of him was thinking that Draco would never be able to have children with him, despite being part centaur, because Harry wasn't pureblooded enough.

"No, not naturally. There's a mucus barrier that can't be crossed by normal sperm. You're obviously not a Peverell, but there is a potion that I could take that would break down the barrier and allow us to conceive. That's why my parents aren't concerned about getting an heir, even though I'm queer. Even if I pick someone like you, I could still make some potions and have a baby." This was the reason Draco wasn't worried about getting pregnant after that day in the loo: he hadn't taken the potion and Harry wasn't a Peverell.

"Merlin's pants!" Harry exclaimed, relieved on both counts. Draco could still have a baby and he wouldn't be having one now, after the bathroom incident.

"Yes, exactly," Draco replied and waited for Harry to process what he had just told him.

They sat in silence for several minutes before Harry asked, "So, is everyone with a giant cock a Peverell man with the whole package and everyone without, not?"

"Yep. All these men in your book are Peverell wizards."

"And Neville? He looks like you and is pureblooded."

"Ewwww, Longbottom? You've looked at Longbottom's dick?" Draco asked as if Harry had just admitted to doing the most disgusting thing imaginable.

"Well not closely or anything. But we share a dorm and all the boys in our dorm have seen each other in passing," Harry replied, leaving out the part where they had all whipped it out together when Seamus showed them his sex book with naked witches.

"Well just so you know, I don't approve of my boyfriend looking at Gryffindor dicks, but yeah, Longbottom is probably a Peverell."

"Okay, I'll make sure to avert my eyes then," Harry replied.

"Good."

"So then you could just get some of this stretching potion from Professor Snape whenever you wanted, like right now?" Harry asked, trying to move the conversation back on track.

"Yeah, but I'd rather _you_ ask Dumbledore for it when you meet with him tomorrow."

"But I'm not the Peverell man, you are."

"Just tell him you want to fuck yourself on a Peverell wizard's dick and he'll hand it right over," Draco replied with a smirk. He knew from experience how eager professors were to hand it out to students, mostly because there was also a contraceptive potion in the same package. At the beginning of every school year Snape had begged him to take the contraceptive, even if he didn't want the stretching potion or other sex-related goodies, but Draco refused each time. He was a virgin and planned on staying that way, so he didn't need it.

Harry huffed and said, "Fine, I'll get it tomorrow."

"What's wrong?" Draco asked, not knowing why Harry seemed so disappointed, because he was getting the potion and sooner than he expected. He thought it probably had something to do with secret feelings of dislike for the headmaster, which he wanted to encourage.

"Well, it's just that I was hoping to get to try the fingering thing in the book and if I have to wait until Monday to get the potion, then I'll probably have to wait until _next_ weekend to have time for you to finger me." He'd wanked Draco twice now and really wanted some reciprocation…it didn't need to be a full out wank, but he wanted Draco to participate in preparing him too. He knew he shouldn't've been expecting it, but he wanted it and was getting frustrated with Draco's reluctance.

"You want to be fingered?" Draco asked. He wasn't really sure what it entailed, other than it was the method for applying the potion.

"Yeah, it looks so hot in the book! I just want to know what it feels like. And I figured we could try putting a finger in and work up to the full thing."

"Would you like it done to you now, without the potion?" Draco asked, making sure he understood Harry correctly. He thought it was just a method to apply the potion, but if there was more too it, then it was reasonable that they work up to it slowly. He wasn't going to do much, but he could let Harry see that he was trying, especially because this seemed important to Harry.

"Yeah," Harry admitted blushing. "You could use a lubricating charm and it'd be good enough."

"Okay, how's it done?" Draco asked.

Harry showed Draco the section in the book on fingering and preparing the arsehole for penetration. Draco took the book and read over it carefully for about fifteen minutes, before he tossed it aside and said, "Okay. Do you know how to perform the stretching and lubricating charms?" There did seem to be a lot more to it than he had thought.

"Um, I've practiced them on myself a few times, but I'm not sure how good I am at it. I can try," Harry replied, grabbing his wand and casting the charms.

"Okay, and can you remove your clothes and turn the couch into a bed again?" Draco asked.

"Just concentrate on wanting a bed," Harry answered, standing up to strip. Before his clothes hit the floor, the loveseat had turned back into the four-poster bed they had slept in last weekend.

"Well that was easier than I thought; it must be why those lava rocks appeared for me earlier," Draco said, lying down on the bed and averting his eyes to Harry's nakedness. He hadn't ever gotten a good look at Harry's bits and he wasn't ready to change that today.

Harry lay down next to Draco, naked, and felt a bit awkward now that Draco was the one with all his clothes on and he had none.

"Come up here, into my arms," Draco instructed, now that he was in charge.

Harry complied and scooted up until Draco was holding him. Draco initiated a kiss, which Harry normally would've taken over, but he was nervous, so he returned it softly instead.

"Are you ready?" Draco asked, cupping Harry's arse with his hands, trying to get himself used to the idea of sticking his fingers in said arse. Harry rested his head in the crook of Draco's neck, and Draco peered down his body to get a look at the body part of interest. It looked rather appealing from this angle.

"Yeah."

"Okay then," Draco said. "Push a finger in it and I'll watch."

"I thought you were going to do it. I can't really get a good look at what's happening back there."

"I don't want to hurt you. You'll be better able to judge how much to push in if you do it to yourself first. Once you figure it out, I'll take over."

"Alright," Harry replied. That seemed reasonable.

Harry reached a hand around to his own arse and inserted a finger. It was a strange and intense feeling that he wasn't used to.

"Does it hurt?" Draco asked worriedly. His arse had hurt so bad when Harry had entered him that he was convinced that a finger would hurt Harry too.

"Nooo…it's just intense," Harry replied, trying not to grit his teeth.

"So what should we do?" Draco asked with trepidation. It was probably best if Harry just pulled his finger back out and waited until next week to try again.

Harry was silent for a minute before he answered, "Um, it's not that bad. I'm gonna keep going."

Harry did and Draco watched intently from over his shoulder. He wanted Harry to move, so that he could have a better look, but he also wanted to hold Harry while he did it, to comfort him. "I think your charms worked; your arse looks very well lubricated," Draco said.

"Thanks." Harry was getting used to the sensation, so he kept going.

Harry was fine for a minute and then his finger slipped, and he cried out in pain.

Draco held him tightly, worried with concern. "Are you okay?"

"That hurt. Maybe I should stop now," Harry replied, pulling his finger out.

Draco saw something red on Harry's hand and he pulled the hand up to get a better look. Sure enough, there was blood and a bit of a thin film on Harry's finger. "You're bleeding," Draco said, thrusting the bloody finger in front of Harry's face, forcing him to look at it.

"Yeah, but it doesn't hurt anymore. I think it's fine," Harry replied, not concerned. It wasn't much blood.

"I don't. It looks like there are bits of skin on it too. I think you hurt yourself," Draco said. He was glad that he had made Harry do it first, so that he had not had to hurt Harry.

"The book recommends calming down and waiting for it to adjust before continuing. I should probably put my finger back in," Harry replied.

"Can I do it this time?" Draco asked. He wasn't so sure that Harry was fine, so he wanted to feel around for himself.

"Yeah, that'd be great," Harry replied. Draco was finally showing some interest in touching him, which was what he wanted.

Draco was nervous, but he had a feeling about this and he just had to check for himself, so he slowly lowered his right hand and pushed his index finger inside. He used his digit to explore and it brushed up against something in Harry's arse. "Does it hurt?" Draco asked.

"No, it's fine," Harry replied, trying to encourage Draco. It was still intense and stung a bit, but he just took deep breaths and tried to remain calm.

"Okay," Draco replied pressing his finger into a round structure. "Shite," Draco said as he realized what it was and pulled his finger out. Sure enough there was more blood and more of the thin film on his finger. "We need to go see Professor Snape."

* * *

Author's Note: I hope that wasn't too graphic. Draco is starting to connect the pieces…


	17. Chapter 17

Author's note: I'm back from my trip! The wedding was beautiful and updates will now go back to their regular schedule.

* * *

"Okay." Draco pressed his finger into a round structure. "Shite," Draco said as he realized what it was and pulled his figure out. Sure enough there was more blood and more of the thin film on his finger. "We need to go see Professor Snape."

"Yeah, I'll go to my detention after dinner," Harry replied.

"No, I mean right now. He needs to see this. He needs to fix it," Draco tried to explain.

Harry looked down at Draco's hand and saw the blood. It was just like his finger had been and barely had any blood, so he wasn't too worried. "It feels fine now," he said.

"Yes, but it's not fine. We need Professor Snape," Draco insisted.

"Okay, but why?" Harry asked getting up and putting his school robes and pants back on.

"Because you're a Peverell wizard. It must be diluted. I didn't notice it because your dick's so small, but you just popped your cherry."

"What?"

"You have a cervix in your arse. There was a film around it, but it just broke. That's why it hurt and why you bled and why there are these bits of film on my finger," Draco explained, holding up his finger for Harry to get a closer look.

"Okay. Why don't you just wash it off and then we'll go tell Snape?"

"No, I want him to see. I can go like this in these pajamas. Just put my robes in my school bag and we can go," Draco said getting up and finding his shoes. He slipped his shoes back on, without tying them, and waited for Harry.

"Why is it such an emergency? Why are you so freaked? You're the one who has known about this Peverell shite all along, not me. I should be the one freaking out, not you," Harry said.

"It's the medical thing, alright," Draco tried to explain.

"The one the babies need fixed? I'm fine. Whatever it is, I didn't get it, because no one ever noticed."

"Do you poop?" Draco asked.

"What?"

"Just answer the question Potter, do you poop?"

"Yeah, everyone poops Draco," Harry replied not getting where Draco was going with this.

"Well it's dangerous for _poop_ to get in your cervix. Now that the film is gone, your feces will get in there the next time you need to go. It'll cause an infection. When I was born, it was noticed, and a healer permanently charmed my excrement to vanish just before it hits my colon. I've never pooped. Now you have three choices, we can go to Professor Snape, who's head of Slytherin house where all the wizards are Peverells. I know for a fact that he can and has performed the charm. Or we can go to Madam Pomfrey, who might know, but doesn't handle the queer students, so she'll probably just refer you to Dumbledore. Or, we can go straight to Dumbledore and explain to the headmaster that I just had my finger up your arse. You may be on that kind of terms with him, but I'm certainly not. He'll probably expel me for touching you and then refer you back to Professor Snape, because Dumbledore's not medically qualified."

While Draco ranted, Harry put on his shoes and socks, finishing up his outfit. "Why don't we go to my head of house then? Professor McGonagall probably gets this kind of thing all the time if Snape does. I bet all the Gryffindor students are sent to her."

"And she refers them along to Professor Snape. Trust me, I'm a prefect, I've been privy to his rants about how the other heads of house dump the Peverell wizards off on him. 'I am not simply in charge of my own house full of pureblooded brats, but all the pureblooded brats in the entire school,'" Draco quoted.

"Oh…so you think we should go see Snape?"

"Yes. It's almost dinner time, so if Professor Snape isn't in his office, then I'll wait there and let you go fetch him from the Great Hall," Draco said, as they walked from the hut towards the door to the room of requirement.

"Um, alright, but why don't I check my map to see where he is?" Harry asked pulling out the Marauder's map from his backpack.

"What kind of map is that?" Draco asked.

"It's a map of the school. My dad and Sirius and some of their friends made it back when they went here. It shows where everyone is. See there?" Harry asked pointing to a Snape labeled dot in Snape's office. "That's Snape in his office. But the hallways are already crowded with students, and we probably shouldn't be seen together. Let me put my invisibility cloak on and I'll follow you."

"Yes, grab your bag, put your cloak on, and let's go," Draco instructed. He had his bag on his shoulder already and he was itching to get going.

And so Harry, without dinner mind you, grabbed his backpack, threw on his invisibility cloak, and held the door to the room of requirement open for Draco. Draco walked out the open door, heading downstairs, passed the thong of student heading into the Great Hall for dinner.

"Hi Draco," Blaise said falling into step beside Draco and not seeing Harry. "What've you been up to today? Why're you wearing pajamas and a muggle shirt?"

"I got a rip in my robes. I had these in my bag from visiting mother. They're new; she just gave them to me," Draco lied, but he thought it was a pretty good lie. It covered why Blaise wouldn't have seen them before and why he had them on him. If Blaise asked why his mother got him such ugly clothes, he would blame her staying at Potter's house…No, that wouldn't do, he couldn't mention Potter, because no one knew mother was at Potter's. They didn't even know she had been captured by the Dark Lord, just that she was away and now had returned…Maybe she got the ugly clothes on her trip…

"You just ran out on lunch," Blaise said.

"I wasn't hungry for sandwiches and I realized I had something more to discuss with my mother. I went to visit her and had a big meal with her. Now I'm on my way down to talk with Professor Snape," Draco replied, hiding his bloodied finger by his side in his robes.

"You're not going to dinner either? What is with you lately; every meal you're either stuffing your face or not eating at all," Blaise commented as they continued down.

"I'm still full from all of mother's sweets she had for me. We just had tea with biscuits and cheesecake."

"Well suit yourself then; I'm going to dinner. I'll see you in the common room later," Blaise said, turning with the rest of the students towards the Great Hall.

Draco, on the other hand, continued down to the dungeons and Snape's office. He wasn't sure if Harry was still with him, but knew that even if they got separated, Harry would catch up eventually. He reached Professor Snape's office and knocked on his door right when Harry appeared beside him, throwing off his invisibility cloak.

"Come in," Professor Snape called from inside his office.

Draco let Harry open the door and then followed him inside.

"You're early Mr. Potter. Didn't you want to go to dinner first?" Snape asked.

"Um, no. Draco has something he wants to talk to you about," Harry answered.

"Well Mr. Malfoy? Why would you be walking the halls, where anyone can see you, with Mr. Potter? Hmm?"

"We weren't seen together; he used his invisibility cloak," Draco replied.

"Ah yes, Mr. Potter's blanket permission to not obey school rules cloak," Snape replied coldly.

"Yes, that one exactly," Draco replied.

"Well get on with it. What was so important that you missed dinner and risked being seen together, in order to tell me?"

"Harry's a Peverell wizard. He's never been treated and I just touched him! And now we need you to cast that charm on him," Draco blurted out.

"Calm down Mr. Malfoy. Surely Mr. Potter would have had the charm performed on him at birth. He probably just did not realize it," Professor Snape replied.

"No, I asked him. He said he poops. His dick is really tiny too, so no one ever noticed it," Draco replied.

"Hey! My cock is just fine thank you very much," Harry replied indignantly.

"Then Mr. Potter most likely didn't inherit the Peverell traits," Snape replied.

"No, he's got the cervix. Look," Draco said, thrusting his bloody finger at Professor Snape. "He bled and there're bits of a membrane and I felt a nub of flesh that must've been his cervix."

"Calm down Mr. Malfoy. Is all of this true Mr. Potter?" Snape asked.

"Yes sir," Harry replied.

"Alright then. Congratulations on your inheritance, I'll just perform a very complex charm on you to vanish your excrements, and then get you a gift basket. Lie down on the examination table over there," Snape said, pointing to an examination table.

Harry had always wondered what the black examination table was doing in the corner of Snape's office, but he had never dared to ask. Now he thought it might be for Peverell wizards.

"Pull up your robe Mr. Potter to expose your abdomen," Professor Snape instructed.

"Do I have to?" Harry objected to letting Snape see his pants. He wished he had put pajamas back on, like Draco was wearing.

"Yes, just do it Harry," Draco said, coming over to his side with his school bag. "Here, you can cover your legs with my robes." Draco pulled his robes out of his bag and helped Harry use them to cover his legs.

"Believe me when I say, I have no interest in seeing you or any of my other students with their robes up. I would prefer it if all Peverell wizards were treated at birth," Professor Snape said.

"Alright, just do it," Harry replied, reaching for Draco's hand to hold for support.

Professor Snape walked up to the exam table and began touching Harry's abdomen. "I am going to start by checking to make sure your organs feel as they should. If you are a Peverell, then I should be able to feel a uterus, which I do, right here. It feels normal. And your intestines shouldn't have any sort of blockage, or there could be additional complications," Professor Snape explained as he pushed into Harry's stomach. "Everything seems in order, so I'm going to perform the charm now. It's long and complicated, so please stay silence and do not move until I am finish."

"Alright," Harry said, looking at Draco and trying not to focus on what Snape was doing. He was nervous that it was Snape, not Madam Pomfrey, performing the charm.

Professor Snape pointed his wand into Harry's abdomen and spent a good ten minutes setting the charm in place and checking to make sure it was working correctly. When everything was in order, he took a step back and said, "You may sit up and pull your robes down now. I will just get your gift basket and be right back."

"I thought he was joking about the gift basket," Harry told Draco as he sat up and adjusted himself.

"No, there's a gift basket. That potion you wanted is included," Draco replied, helping Harry up and taking his own robes back. He threw them on over-top of the pajamas.

"Here you are, Mr. Potter," Snape said returning from his store rooms with two large gift baskets tied with shiny blue ribbons. He sat one down and handed the other over to Harry. "Now if you would just open it and take the magenta colored potion in front of me, then you should be all set. The headmaster can answer any questions you may have at your scheduled meeting tomorrow."

"What's the magenta colored potion do?" Harry asked curiously.

"It's a contraceptive potion. We give it to all sexually active students here at Hogwarts, so that we don't have any unwanted pregnancies," Snape answered Harry before turning to Draco. "And Mr. Malfoy, I know that you have refused your gift basket in the past, but now it is quite obvious that you _are_ sexually active. Will you consider taking your own dose of contraceptive now?"

"Um, first I want to watch Harry take his. You know, make sure he takes it," Draco replied nervously. He looked down at his hands and realized that Harry's blood was still on his finger, so he performed a cleaning charm. It wasn't as gentle as Harry's were, but it did the trick.

"Fine, I'll take," Harry said, opening up his basket, retrieving the magenta colored vial, and downing it. "There, now Draco, your turn."

Professor Snape had the second gift basket in hand and was pushing it into Draco's hands. "Um, about that, I don't think I can take it," Draco said, holding his unopened basket lamely. He really didn't want the stupid thing. It was considered a bit of a mark of shame among Slytherins if you had to take one and it was too late anyway.

"And why is that Mr. Malfoy? Even if your relationship only goes one way, I would still prefer it if you took the contraceptive in case you change your mind," Professor Snape said, getting frustrated with his student.

"No, I don't think I can take it because I think I'm already pregnant," Draco blurted out.

"What!?" Harry exclaimed loudly. He was in a bit of shock, so he sat himself down in his usual chair in front of Snape's desk to think. Talk about information overload.

"And this is why I strongly urge all of my students to take the contraceptive potion, even if they're not currently sexually active," Professor Snape said pinching his nose.

"I know and I was going to come to you if I needed it, before I did anything, but I didn't have that option," Draco replied, trying to keep himself together and not break down.

"You always have that option Mr. Malfoy. I am always available to help my students in need; whatever those needs may be," Professor Snape replied.

"No, I didn't have that option, because Harry raped me!" Draco admitted, trying to keep his voice at a whisper, but it still came out half like a shout.

Snape spat the words out slowly and one at a time as he asked, "When and where?"

"No, I didn't rape you," Harry replied weakly from his chair, still in shock.

"When and where Mr. Malfoy," Professor Snape repeated.

"In the boy's loo, before he almost killed me with that curse," Draco replied. He felt humiliated and was looking down at his shoes, which weren't even tied, thanks to the speed at which he and Harry had left the room of requirement. He bent down and tied them now.

"You failed to mention that." After a few moments of silence, Professor Snape added, "That would explain your slow recovery and subsequent infection. Your anal canal has gone untouched since birth, when you had the excrement vanishing charm cast on you. Without proper preparation it would have been small and fragile from disuse; I have even heard of cases where it regressed. Even if Mr. Potter is as small as you say he is, he still caused serious damage. You were already in the hospital wing, so you could have _asked_ me to fix you."

"I didn't want anyone to know. I still don't. Could you just do a pregnancy test?" Draco asked.

"Mr. Potter should be expelled for your rape and attempted murder!" Professor Snape proclaimed.

"No, it wasn't rape. It was an accident. I didn't mean to do it," Harry protested.

"Mr. Potter, do you mean to tell me that you _accidentally_ raped Mr. Malfoy and then _accidentally_ almost killed him?" Professor Snape turned on Harry, glowering down on him.

"Yes," Harry replied, but without his usual determination. He felt weak and defeated. He had never thought of the incident as rape and now to find out that Draco had…well it felt like a hard blow to the stomach.

"I will deal with you later," Professor Snape said before turning to Draco with a more neutral face. "Mr. Malfoy please explain to me why you are still involved in a relationship with someone who not only tried to kill you, but raped you, and possibly impregnated you against your will?"

"It's complicated," Draco replied.

"Please do not tell me you are staying with him because your mother is staying at his house. I told you that I was working on moving her to another secure location," Professor Snape replied.

"No, it's not that," Draco replied.

"Then what is it?" Snape was having trouble controlling his temper.

"He loves me. He explained to me that there was a miscommunication and that he didn't mean to rape me and he's been really nice to me ever since," Draco tried to explain.

"Love does not always act in our best interest, to that I can testify. I suggest you overcome your feelings for your own safety," Professor Snape replied.

"Okay, I'll think about it. But, could you, um, just do the pregnancy test?" Draco pleaded. He could attempt to do the spell himself, but then he wouldn't know if the results he got were because he did the charm wrong or not.

"Fine, get up on my table," Professor Snape directed.

Draco complied, hopping onto the examination table and laying back. He had seen this spell performed many times before, so he knew what to do and wasn't worried. Professor Snape approached him and cast the spell. A white light left his wand and penetrated his stomach, through his clothing, and then the word, "Pregnant," appeared over Draco's abdomen.

"You are pregnant Mr. Malfoy. Please pull back your robes to expose your abdomen," Professor Snape instructed reluctantly. He really didn't want this to be happening.

Draco sat up and pulled his robes back off, before doing the same with his borrowed tight white muggle-shirt. Then he lay back down.

"Mr. Malfoy, I need to examine your uterus, to see how your pregnancy is progressing. I will need to pull your pajamas and pants down just a few inches, but I will be leaving them on," Professor Snape said and Draco nodded, to show he had heard. Draco lifted his hips up and Professor Snape pulled his pajamas and pants down two inches, before pressing into his stomach with his hands, like he had done to Harry.

"I'm done; you may put your cloths back on now. Your uterus does feel enlarged, as expected with a pregnancy. You will have to see Madam Pomfrey for additional tests, but as far as I can tell, everything is fine. Given your recent injuries and infections, I suggest you see her as soon as possible, to forestall any possible complications. If you so wish, she would be able to give you an abortion potion," Professor Snape said.

Draco abandoned the muggle shirt, but put his robes back on and pulled his pants and borrowed pajamas back up.

"Um, I'll go see her after dinner. I think I'd like to go eat now, if that's alright with you sir," Draco said slowly. His head was still spinning with the news of the pregnancy. He had been thinking it was a possibility earlier, but thinking it and knowing it was happening were two different things.

"I'll walk you to the Great Hall," Harry suggested.

"No, I require you to come with me to talk to the Headmaster at once," Professor Snape said.

"Well he's at dinner, so how about we both walk Draco to the Great Hall and pick up Dumbledore," Harry countered. Earlier his map had shown Dumbledore heading towards the Great Hall.

"Fine, but you are not to harass Mr. Malfoy if he comes to his senses and wants nothing to do with you," Professor Snape replied.

"Agreed," Harry replied, picking up both his and Draco's backpacks.

Draco didn't say anything, instead walking over to the sink and washing his hands, because they still felt dirty, while Harry and Professor Snape argued. He was just drying his hands when they settled things. He took his bag back from Harry and let him hold the door open for him while he headed up to the Great Hall, the three of them walking in silence the whole way. Draco didn't even look up or wave when he left them, instead attempting to slip unobtrusively into a spot between Crabbe and Goyle at the Slytherin table.

"Where've you been?" Crabbe asked him, chewing on a chicken leg in a revolting manner.

"Talking with Professor Snape. I'm hungry; help me load up my plate before it disappears to make room for dessert, yeah?" Draco replied, changing the subject. He didn't need their help; he just needed to change the subject.

'How am I going to get through the rest of the night? First Pansy, then Blaise, now Crabbe, and Professor Snape wanted me to go see Madam Pomfrey? Something has to give…I'll wait until tomorrow to see Madam Pomfrey,' Draco decided silently.

* * *

Author's Note: So there it is: Draco is pregnant and now Harry, Draco, and Professor Snape all know…How do you think Dumbledore will react when he hears the news? Please review!


	18. Chapter 18

Author's Notes: No censorship was needed in this chapter, but Harry will be getting a sex talk from Dumbledore.

* * *

Harry waited out in the hall while Snape retrieved Dumbledore. He wanted to go in and sit next to Draco to show his support, not to mention that he was hungry, but he figured he could nick something from the kitchens later.

"Harry, why're you waiting out in the corridor?" Hermione asked, having left the Gryffindor table the moment she saw Harry arrive with Snape.

"I can't go in. Snape and I are having a meeting with Dumbledore," Harry replied. "But get Ron to nick something from the kitchens for me, yeah?"

"Sure. Did you ask Snape about me helping you with your detention tonight? Did he agree? I've been looking over your notes and you've almost got it finished, you just…"

"Hermione, I don't have much time. It's not happening tonight. I'll see you tomorrow," Harry said hurriedly, because he saw Dumbledore get up and begin walking towards him with Snape.

"Come along, Mr. Potter," Professor Dumbledore said in the type of friendly voice that signaled that Snape had yet to tell him about his latest indiscretion.

Harry waved to Hermione and the three wizards walked in silence up to the gargoyle and up the self-rotating staircase, until they were safely inside Dumbledore's office.

"What is this about Severus?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

"New information has come to light about Mr. Potter's actions in the bathroom three weeks ago. Mr. Malfoy was apparently covering for him, but recently confided to me that Mr. Potter raped him in that bathroom, before Mr. Potter attempted to kill Mr. Malfoy. That was the reason behind Mr. Malfoy's delayed recovery and subsequent infection and is also the reason that Mr. Malfoy is now pregnant by Mr. Potter," Snape said.

"Is this true Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore asked gravely. He looked like he'd just been slapped in the face.

"Most of it, sir. But I didn't mean to rape Draco, honest-"

"How can you accidently rape someone?" Snape interrupted with a sneer.

"We were snogging. I asked Draco if he was okay with this, meaning that I wanted to have sex with him. He said yes, thinking that I meant to wank him. I penetrated him and he passed out. I stopped and enervated him. He fell to the floor and hit his head, then grabbed his wand and cursed me. That's when I hit back with the curse that I'd seen in a book, but didn't know what it did," Harry explained.

"If it ended right after it began, then explain to me how Mr. Malfoy is pregnant," Snape demanded.

"Premature ejaculation," Harry replied, staring Snape in the face like that wasn't one of the most embarrassing things he had ever revealed about himself. He had seen that day from Draco's eyes and he knew there were things much more embarrassing than a little premature ejaculation.

"I want him expelled Albus. Premature ejaculation or not, that boy raped and almost murdered one of my students. Expulsion is standard," Snape said, his tone deadly calm.

"I agree with you Severus, but as it stands, I need the boy here until you finish your assignment. When I leave, then Mr. Potter will leave too," Dumbledore replied.

"But sir, I need to stay wherever Draco is, so I can protect him and the baby! He's bound to be an easy target for loads of Death Eaters!" Harry protested. He had thoughts of being an Auror that were also crushed, but weren't so important right now; not to mention they sounded selfish next to the admission of what he had done to Draco.

"I won't leave until the end of the school year. You have until then to convince Mr. Malfoy to go into hiding with you. That shouldn't be too hard considering that Narcissa is currently residing at your house and he has nowhere else to go," Dumbledore replied calmly.

"The safety of the rest of the students is at stake here. Who will Mr. Potter decide to rape and kill next?" Snape asked.

"No one. I'm dating Draco and I'm certainly not going to rape him now that he's carrying my child," Harry answered.

"I believe Harry and I don't think he is a threat to anyone, besides Voldemort. And allowing him to stay in the castle for a few months more will provide me the opportunity to finish his lessons and prepare him for the end," Dumbledore said.

"You haven't had any lessons in weeks," Snape accused.

"Now that Mr. Potter has retrieved that memory from Horace, I'm researching and planning our next Horcrux hunt," Dumbledore replied.

"He's not helping to plan it and how helpful can an underage wizard be? He'll probably just get himself killed," Snape accused.

"Professor Dumbledore hasn't asked me to help with anything and I've been too busy to help, because of my detentions and trying to learning occlumency," Harry defended himself, leaving out spending time with Draco.

"And fooling around with Mr. Malfoy," Snape added. "Or are you forgetting what you originally came into my office for tonight."

"What did Mr. Potter come into your office for tonight, Severus, might I ask?" Dumbledore asked.

"He and Mr. Malfoy had been fooling around. Mr. Malfoy had broken Mr. Potter's hymen and was requesting my help, because Mr. Potter was an undiagnosed Peverell wizard," Snape inform the headmaster.

"What we were doing is none of your business!" Harry exclaimed.

Harry felt like punching Snape right in his stupid crooked nose, but then the headmaster stepped in and said, "Enough. Harry, you are skating on thin ice already. You are to finish serving out your already agreed upon month's worth of detentions. Professor Snape, you are to drop this subject and not mention it to anyone, am I clear?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes Albus."

"Yes Professor."

"Now if Mr. Malfoy would like to pay me a visit to tell me his side of the story, I would be more than willing to listen. Professor Snape, if you will excuse us, Harry and I have some unfinished business to attend to. You can have him for detention tomorrow instead," Dumbledore said.

Snape excused himself with a scowl and a glare and left Harry alone with the headmaster.

"Harry, my boy, I am extremely disappointed in you. What you did was very wrong and I will not cover for you again. The next time it will be Azkaban," Dumbledore warned sternly.

"Yes sir, it won't happen again sir."

"Good, now let me get you a gift basket," Dumbledore said standing up and going to a cupboard on the side of the room. It was one with shiny silvery instruments on top, but on the bottom were two wooden doors, which Dumbledore now opened to reveal…gift baskets with shiny silver ribbons, like the one Snape had given him.

"Thank you sir," Harry said taking the gift basket from Dumbledore.

"There is a contraceptive potion in there Harry and I would prefer it if you would open it up and take it now. I know Mr. Malfoy is already pregnant, but you don't want another unplanned pregnancy, do you?" Dumbledore asked.

"No sir, but Snape gave me a gift basket back in his office. I already drank the magenta potion, but I'd still like to take this basket, if it's alright, because I left mine back with him and Draco never did take a basket."

"Very well, you may take that one and retrieve the other tomorrow during detention. Now, you are aware that as the only queer teacher currently at this school I am in charge of counseling matters and am here to help with anything you need, including directions on how to use anything in that basket."

"I didn't know you were queer, Professor."

"Ah yes, I had a very cute young thing on my arm back in the day. Tall, dark, and handsome."

"What happened?" Harry asked curiously. He expected to hear death from old age.

"Numengard prison. I put him there myself, but enough about me. Are you aware that there are special…precautions that need to be taken with a Peverell penis?"

Harry wanted to hear more about Dumbledore's love life, but he felt like he was prying, so he didn't ask. "Well I was reading a book that suggested using a stretching potion, sir," Harry answered.

"Ah yes, the stretching potion is key. There's a chart in the basket that will let you know just how long you need to use the stretching potion for prior to sex. The bigger the penis, the longer you will have to use the stretching potion. Stretching potion is a misnomer really; it's a growing potion, Harry. It actually encourages the anus to grow to the needed size, both in length and width, according to how much you stretch the anus with the fingers. Fingers are important Harry, don't forget that."

"Fingers, got it sir. So, if it's a growing potion, does that mean the changes are permanent?"

"Yes, unless you take a shrinking potion, the anus will stay permanently at the new, larger size. It makes anal sex much more convenient, don't you think?"

"Yes sir, that and the whole not pooping anymore thing," Harry agreed. "It's like I'm turning my arse into a vagina."

"Well that's what the conditioning potion is for," Dumbledore said, pointing to another potion in Harry's basket. "It doesn't make the arse exactly like a vagina, but it makes the walls thicker, so that they can stand up more easily to the rigors of anal sex. And the extra layer contains cells that release the body's own natural mucus into the anus. It doesn't replace lubrication, but it helps."

"And these other potions? What do they do?" Harry asked.

"Well the healing balm heals anal tears, in case you get a little rough or go too fast or what not. Then there's also your standard lubrication potion in there, along with a few extra vials of contraceptive potion. The magenta one lasts for a year, but normally we like to keep our Peverell wizards on it for all seven years, so there are six other vials of it, color coded by year. Magenta is the first year, red is second, followed by orange, and well you get the picture; they're labeled by year anyway."

"Is that everything sir?" Harry asked, referring to the basket.

"No, there's also the matter of Mr. Malfoy's pregnancy to discuss. Just what are your plans?"

"I meant about the basket?" Harry asked, not wanting to get into that just yet. He didn't know the answer, because he hadn't had a chance to talk to Draco. He had always wanted kids, but now, with the war coming, seemed like it was the worst time possible. Life would be easier if Draco took the abortion potion and they got pregnant again in a few years and that wasn't even factoring in the back lash that he would incur when the wizarding world found out he was dating the son of a Death Eater. This would all be so much easier to explain if he had knocked Ginny up instead; then he wouldn't have to come out of the closet and no one would question a relationship between him and a Weasley.

"Oh well there's also a book filled with convenient spells to make sex easier, like one to help large penises enter virginal holes, but I really would like to talk about Mr. Malfoy's pregnancy, if you don't mind."

"I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet. I don't know what our plans will be."

"Might I suggest hiding him in Grimmauld Place? I won't need it as headquarters much longer; we're moving. If you require, I could re-preform the fidelius charm and give the secret only to you, Mr. Malfoy, and Lady Narcissa."

"Yeah, that might work."

"There's also a small book I can give you on Peverell pregnancies. You might want to read up on it before hand," Dumbledore said getting up and pulling a thin book out of the cabinet that the basket had come from.

"Thank you sir."

"Anytime my dear boy. And you do realize that the fewer people who know about Mr. Malfoy, the safer he and your baby will be?"

"No, I hadn't thought about it."

"Well do think about it, as well as the fact that this war is moving along quickly. By the end of term I expect the three of us will have to go into hiding. There are a lot of items a pregnant wizard and a newborn baby will need; I suggest you stock pile them up at Grimmauld place before the end of term. I can get you some mail-order catalogs, that way I can order them anonymously, have them delivered to the school, and pass them along to Grimmauld Place. Plan for this war to last at least a year, maybe two," Dumbledore advised.

"Yes Professor, but I'm not sure what types of things Draco and the baby will need," Harry admitted. He'd never spent much time around babies.

"Lady Narcissa will be familiar with the process. I suggest you take the opportunity to get to know your future mother-in-law."

"My future mother-in-law, sir?" Harry asked, taking a gulp of air.

"Are you and Mr. Malfoy not planning on marrying? It is pureblooded custom that both parties be virgins until the wedding night. Having a child outside of wedlock is very much taboo. There might even be certain items in the Malfoy vault that your child wouldn't be able to inherit, if he or she were born a bastard, Harry. I suggest you think about it; you don't want to leave Mr. Malfoy and your child in a bad position, say if you were not to survive this war. The bastard child of the chosen one and all."

"We haven't had a chance to talk about it since finding out, but before when we did, Draco said he needed to wait for his father to get out of Azkaban to approve the marriage contract."

"The dementors will abandon Azkaban soon enough and Lucius will escape, I fear. But even if he does not, Lady Narcissa could make the decision in an emergency situation, such as this. Even if the Malfoys do not approve of the match, they will most likely request a marriage be performed, even if the marriage ends in a divorce shortly after the birth of the child. I should say they will think poorly of you if you do not at least ask, after having impregnated their son against his will."

"Oh…I'll talk to Draco about it, but could it be done in private and kept secret until the end of the war?"

"Yes. Again this is something Lady Narcissa could help with, if she does give her permission. Do you have any more questions for me regarding this matter?"

"Not at the moment, no sir."

"Please come see me again when you and Mr. Malfoy have made some decisions."

"Yes Professor."

"You may go now. Report to Professor Snape as usual for detention," Professor Dumbledore said, excusing Harry.

This was the earliest Harry had been free in three weeks and Harry wasn't quite sure what to do with the free time. He had a lot to think about, so he absentmindedly made his way back to Gryffindor tower, carrying his gift basket, where he ran into Ron and Hermione in the common room.

"You're back early," Ron said, getting up from a chess game he had been playing with Seamus. "Seamus mate, we'll finish this tomorrow. Harry hasn't had an evening off in forever."

"Sure mate. Good to see you out of detention Harry," Seamus said.

"Harry! What happened? Where'd you get that basket?" Hermione asked. She looked like she had a million questions on the tip of her tongue that she was biting back.

"I had a meeting with Professor Dumbledore instead of detention. I'm done for the evening," Harry answered, setting the basket down at his feet.

"I got you a sandwich from the elves," Ron said picking up a plate off of a side table and handing it to Harry. "What kind of meeting?"

"It's a bit private. I don't want to talk about it here," Harry replied, biting into the sandwich; it was turkey and cheese and he was hungry. He didn't want to talk about it at all, unless he was talking to Draco.

"Our dorm is empty; we can go up there and talk," Ron suggested, picking up the basket so Harry could continue eating. "What's in here?"

"Yes, come on then," Hermione said, leading the way up the stairs.

Harry didn't really want to do this now. He wanted to get out his coin and see Draco. Had he gone to see Madam Pomfrey yet? Maybe they could go together and he could hold Draco's hand…but Ron and Hermione needed to be told something. They probably thought this had to do with Voldemort. And Ron was peering too closely into his sex basket for Harry's comfort.

Harry watched Hermione shut the door behind her. "Put the basket on my bedside table, Ron. And listen, it had nothing to do with Voldemort. It was a personal meeting we had," Harry said sitting on his bed finishing the last of his sandwich.

"Really? Was it about your detentions?" Hermione asked.

"A personal meeting with the headmaster? That can't be good," Ron said.

"The topic of my detentions did come up. Snape's mad at me again and wanted to increase my punishment. Dumbledore declined, but said the next slip-up will mean expulsion," Harry admitted.

"What did you do Harry?" Hermione asked, like he had just admitted to killing puppies.

"I ran into Malfoy again right before dinner. We fought and I hexed him. Snape found us and set Malfoy right, but he was furious in a way I'd never seen before. If you thought he was scary before, that was nothing to tonight."

"Oh Harry, you didn't?" Hermione asked.

"But Dumbledore was on your side, right? That's good mate," Ron said.

Harry just nodded and hoped they would drop it.

"Why did you even run into Malfoy before dinner? I thought you were practicing occlumency?" Hermione asked.

"I was earlier, but we finished up. Then I went to see Snape and Malfoy was also going to see Snape and we ran into each other in the dungeons."

"Why'd you go to see Snape? You had detention with him after dinner, why didn't you just wait until then to talk to him?" Ron asked. He made deliberately going to talk to Snape sound like it was an awful thing.

"Yes Harry, why _would_ you go see him? It wasn't to ask about me helping you in detention tonight, was it? I should've never let you ask; you almost got expelled over me," Hermione said. She seemed very distressed at this notion.

"No Hermione, I wasn't going there to ask him about you. By that time I had forgotten all about it," Harry tried to reassure her.

"Then what was it?" Ron asked.

"I said it's personal," Harry began to explain. "Have either of you heard of Peverell men?"

"Yeah," Ron replied.

"I've come across the name, but I'm not familiar with the family. It's one of the old wizarding families, isn't it?" Hermione asked.

"It's not just a family, Hermione," Ron said.

"Yeah, they're an old wizard family, but it's also a term to describe wizards with part centaur ancestry," Harry explained.

"Centaur? Well if giants, veelas, and goblins can all interbreed with humans, why not centaurs too?" Hermione asked. "But what's this got to do with visiting Snape?"

"Well it turns out I'm one; a Peverell man, that is," Harry said.

"No, you can't be. I've seen you…um…" Ron trailed off, his ears turning a bright shade of red.

"What's he talking about Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Peverell men are normally noticed at birth, because they have a centaur's, you know? Down there?" Harry felt _very_ uncomfortable saying it in front of Hermione.

"But Harry doesn't have anything like that. He's all human," Ron added, still red.

"Okay, so how'd you find out?" Hermione asked.

"Well I was going to the bathroom…" Harry trailed off trying to figure out the rest of this lie and hoping Hermione would come up with something for him.

"And what? It just popped out or something?" Hermione asked.

"Blood?" Ron asked, gulping.

"Yeah, blood," Harry said. Good old Ron. Now just wait for Hermione to make sense of that and he'd have his lie.

"Blood? From where? Your bits?" Hermione whispered the last word.

"No, the bum," Ron clarified.

"Yeah. I was worried, so I went to see Snape and ran into Malfoy," Harry concluded.

"Why would there be blood from Harry's bum, if he's part centaur?" Hermione was still confused.

"It's complicated," Harry replied.

"Yeah," Ron added.

"Okay, I'll read up on it. Continue," Hermione said.

"Whew," Ron replied, grateful that he wouldn't have to explain the facts of centaur life to his maybe-sort-of girlfriend.

"So once the fight with Malfoy was settled, I revealed why I had gone to see Snape, and he and Dumbledore explained to me about being a Peverell," Harry concluded.

"But why would you go to Snape for that? Why not Madam Pomfrey?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, when there's blood on your bum, better tell your mum," Ron seconded with a saying his mum used to use to explain about Peverell wizards.

"Because it's personal and Madam Pomfrey's not a bloke," Harry lied, because he didn't want to admit Draco had been with him all day. It sounded like a good lie to him.

"But Madam Pomfrey is a healer," Hermione argued.

"Still, when your bum is bleeding Hermione…" Harry said.

"You don't want to have a witch looking at it," Ron finished, guessing where Harry was going with this.

"Professor Snape said he gets this all the time in Slytherin house. Said Pomfrey just sends the Peverell boys over to him anyway," Harry said shrugging.

"Yeah, I guess," Hermione replied. "Are you still…um bleeding?"

"No, Snape fixed it," Harry replied blushing.

"Fixed it how?" Hermione asked.

"You're not going to, you know, anymore, right?" Ron asked.

"Right Ron. Bleeding's finished and now I don't have to worry about using the loo ever again," Harry replied.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Just read up on it," Ron suggested.

"That's what Dumbledore said. He gave me a book and the basket," Harry said referring to the basket on his bedside table. He reached into his backpack and grabbed the book to hand to Hermione.

"Pregnancy in Peverell Wizard," Hermione read. "This will be very…um…interesting. I'll just go read it now."

"Alright, but I want to read it too, so please bring it back," Harry replied. Hermione nodded and left.

"So how do you feel?" Ron asked concerned.

"Mentally exhausted. I didn't even know there was such a thing as Peverell men," Harry admitted.

"Do you want to…um…talk about it?" Ron gulped nervously.

"No, I'd just like some time alone to think about it," Harry replied.

"Okay." Ron stood up and walked towards the door to leave, but before he did, he asked, "Did you get anything good in the basket?"

"Yeah, some potions to make sex for Peverell men easier. There's a contraceptive potion in here if you want it," Harry offered.

"I don't need one meself and I think McGonagall gets all the girls to take it at the start of term every year," Ron replied.

"Are you sure? I've never heard that."

"Yeah, well that's what Lavender said anyway," Ron replied.

"I guess."

"I'll just be going now," Ron said, before walking out the door and _finally _leaving Harry alone.

Harry lay on his bed thinking for ten minutes before pulling out his charmed galleon. He tapped it with his wand. The coin had the word, "Now," printed on it. Harry waited, but only for a minute before his coin changed to read, "No." After thirty seconds the coin changed to read, "3pm ROR."

Harry wondered if this meant Draco was still in the hospital wing with Madam Pomfrey, so he sent back, "H. Wing?" Thirty seconds later his coin changed to, "No." Harry took that to mean that Draco had finished with Madam Pomfrey already and was probably going to sleep early. Harry wanted to go to sleep too, but it was only nine and he was still wide awake. He glanced at his nightstand and noticed that his basket was still out on display. Not wanting to have to explain himself to anyone else, he picked it up and went to put it in his trunk, but he had accumulated so make rubbish over the years that the large basket didn't fit. Thus he shrunk the basket to the size of an orange, but then worried it would get lost in the trunk and he did want to start using some of the potions tomorrow, so he tucked it away in his school bag instead.

'If I'm meeting with Draco tomorrow, I won't have time to do my homework and have Hermione help me on my detention essay. I might as well go down and get her help now,' Harry thought to himself, getting up, grabbing his backpack, and heading downstairs.

Harry found Hermione sitting on a couch in the common room reading the book he had given her. "Hey," he greeted.

"Hi Harry. Do you want to talk about this?" she waved at the book. It looked like she was about halfway through it.

"No. I'd rather work on my defense essay. With Snape mad at me, he's gonna be unbearable tomorrow in detention and I just know he won't let you in to help," Harry said pulling out some parchment, a quill, and the defensive shields book.

"Alright," Hermione said reaching into her own bag and getting the folder with Harry's notes that he had given her earlier. "Well I looked at what you had and you do have all the pieces, you just haven't organized it and added the transitions. Here, let me go over the notes I made."

Here Hermione showed him a page with her own neat writing on it. Harry spent on hour reading it and discussing Hermione's recommendations with her, before going up to bed at ten. It had been a very long day, but thanks to Hermione's help, he felt he could finish his blasted essay tomorrow in detention. 'Three hours of Snape ought to be enough time to get it done,' he thought, drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Author's Note: So what do you think? Please Review.


	19. Chapter 19

Authors Note: There is another censored lemon in this chapter.

* * *

Harry was anxious all day for his chance to talk to Draco. He saw him in potions class, but he barely even dared look at him in public for fear he might give something away. Thus he was practically bouncing off the walls of the room of requirement waiting for Draco that afternoon.

"Hi," Harry squeaked as the door opened and Draco stepped through. Suddenly it was like Draco was the only thing in the room, because he became the sole focus of Harry's attention.

"Hello. Want to sit down?" Draco replied, walking into the room and taking Harry's hand.

"Yeah," Harry replied as they walked to the loveseat in the hut and sat down. "Did you go see Madam Pomfrey?" This was first on his lists of things he needed to talk to Draco about. After the sectumsempra and the infection, Harry was concerned for the baby's health.

"No."

"Let's go together. I want to be there and hold your hand," Harry said, glad Draco had waited, but also anxious that they didn't know if the baby was healthy already.

"I decided I'm not going."

"Not going?" Harry asked confused.

"Yes. The more people who know about this pregnancy, the more dangerous it will be. Each person is a liability; a risk that they will be captured and tortured for information by the Dark Lord or Death Eaters. It's not about me anymore, it's about my baby. Four people already know and mother'll make five. I'm not going to tell a sixth and you better not either," Draco said gravely.

"But Madam Pomfrey's on Dumbledore's side. You need medical care and she's the most trusted person we know for that. Don't you want to know if our baby is healthy? What if it's sick? A sixth person, when that person in a healer, is worth it," Harry protested.

"I said no. It's my body and I won't see her. I already talked to Professor Snape about this."

"What did he say?"

"There was a long speech about how I had my whole life ahead of me and I didn't need to waste it caring for a rape baby. He advised me to take an abortion potion."

"And what did you say?" Harry asked with a gulp. Putting his baby and the words abortion potion in the same sentence felt like a punch to the gut, even though he had been thinking about it himself with Professor Dumbledore yesterday.

"What do you think I said Potter?" Draco sneered.

"Um, I don't know."

"You don't know?" Draco asked incredulously. "You can knock me up, but you don't have an opinion on it?"

"If you want to get an abortion, then I'm okay with it. I understand that it would make things easier. But whatever you decide, I'll support you." Harry didn't want to say it, but he didn't want to guilt Draco into keeping his baby either, especially now that he knew Draco felt he had been raped.

"Are you implying that you want me to _kill_ my baby Potter? That you made a mistake by impregnating me and you expect _me_ to fix it with the _murder_ of _my_ unborn child? The heir to the Malfoy estate?" Draco asked, sneering again. He had trouble processing that it was also Harry's baby; as far as he was concerned it was his baby and that was the end of it. "Oh I'm sure the murder of my innocent baby would make your life loads easier. My murder would probably make your life easier, for that matter, so maybe you should just kill me too. How many other people are in your way? You could just kill all of them while you're at it and become the next dark lord."

Harry wasn't sure which side Draco was on, but he liked the sound of that statement better than the previous and he was suddenly sure he was antiabortion. Harry said the first words that came to his mind, "No, I would rather keep _our_ baby, but I'm not going to force you into it if you don't want to. And for the record, I don't think our baby is a mistake, just a pleasant accident." At this point, Harry thought he must've said something right, because the fight seemed to leave Draco and his shoulders sagged. "Now would you care to tell me how you feel?"

"I feel like a dragon's play toy; tossed around and clawed at," Draco answered, silent tears falling from his eyes.

"Come here," Harry said, holding his arms out to hug his boyfriend. Draco leaned in and Harry pulled him into his chest, holding him tightly. "I love you and our baby and I'm gonna be here to help you through this. If you want to keep our baby, I'll march into Snape's office tonight and tell him to bugger off!"

"No, we need him," Draco replied quietly.

"No we don't. School will be out soon; we'll move into Grimmauld Place with your mum. It'll be okay," Harry soothed.

"We need him, because otherwise I won't have a healer."

"We'll get Madam Pomfrey."

"No! I said no one else. _You_ don't even know occlumency yet. _You_ shouldn't even know. I ought to obliviate you, to make this world safer for my baby. The Dark Lord is going to read your mind as he kills you and then come after us to finish the job," Draco said angrily.

"Alright, calm down. Being upset isn't good for the baby," Harry replied, trying to soothe Draco by rubbing calming circles on his back. They always said that on TV, so it must be true.

"You'll learn occlumency and make sure anyone else you tell already knows occlumency, or I _will_ obliviate you," Draco warned. "Mother knows occlumency."

"I can ask Madam Pomfrey if she knows occlumency…"

"She doesn't know. I already asked Professor Snape," Draco replied snippily.

"Okay. What else did Snape say? I thought he wanted you to see a healer?" Harry asked.

"He says that to all students, so he won't have to deal with them. I asked him if he would just check the baby himself and he did. He agreed to be my healer and help deliver my baby."

"He checked the baby? Is it okay? It is healthy? What tests did he do?" Harry asked, full of questions.

"The baby is healthy as am I. He couldn't find any residual ill effects from the infection. He did all the normal basic pregnancy spells."

"And all the tests came back normal?" Harry asked excitedly. He was about to jump for joy, but then he still had Draco in his arms, and he didn't know if that would be good for the baby.

"Well, all but one."

"Which one?" Harry asked concerned.

"The sex determination spell."

"What was wrong with it?" Harry asked. He couldn't figure out how a sex determination spell could turn out abnormal. Either it was a boy or it was a girl; both possibilities were normal.

"It was all blurry and faded. The word was hard to read," Draco answered shrugging.

"Could you tell what word it was?" Harry asked.

"Well even if I couldn't, I'd know from the blue color. Professor Snape said not to worry about it though, because he hasn't had much practice with that particular spell and he probably just didn't get it right. He'll do it again in a month when he checks me again."

"It was blue?" Harry was very excited now. He was going to have a son.

"Yes, and I think it ended with a two-tailed y. I couldn't make out the first letter at all, but the middle letter appeared to be the number eight."

"We're going to have a boy?"

"Seems that way. I should tell you now that my son's last name will be Malfoy and I'll be listing you as the mother, if I list you at all."

"Why? You're carrying him. Wouldn't you be the mother?"

"It's custom for the Peverell wizard with the larger dick to be considered the father and give the child his last name. The other gets put in the mother section on the form, but you can have him call you dad or Uncle Harry." Draco left out the fact that normally the wizard with the larger dick wasn't the one carrying the baby in his body, but that was beside the point. He wanted to be the father and he could do whatever he wanted with his baby.

"Oh…well I can live with that. I still get a son."

"Yes, depending on how much you trust Professor's Snape wand work."

"Is he even qualified to cast medical spells? We could find you a healer who knows occlumency…"

"I don't want another healer. I wouldn't trust anyone else not to cave under torture. I've seen Professor Snape stand up to the Dark Lord and I know he won't betray me."

"I'm not sure the same is true for me. He doesn't seem to like me much."

"Is there any wonder why? It doesn't matter anyway, because he swore an unbreakable vow to mother to protect me and today I asked him to swear another one to me to protect this baby."

"And he did?"

"Yes, he did, without hesitation."

"And his medical experience?"

"He was a healer for Voldemort, fixing up Death Eaters after battles, before he became a teacher. He even delivered a few babies, including Crabbe."

"Is that what's wrong with him?" Harry asked joking.

"Yes, but that wasn't Professor Snape's fault. Crabbe's mother was a Death Eater and received several curses before he was born."

"So you trust Snape to deliver our baby?"

"Yes," Draco answered.

"And I trust you. Is snogging alright for the baby?"

"Yeah," Draco replied and Harry kissed him. The kiss was slow and sensual at first, but then Harry deepened it and it became hot and needy. "Wanking me is also fine for the baby; a recommended form of stress release."

Harry didn't need to be told twice and he quickly set about to wank Draco.

"I love you," Harry whispered into Draco's ear, hoping to convey to him just how strong he felt about the wizard carrying his baby.

Draco heard Harry's words through the pounding in his ears. He was getting better at this alertness in the face of wanking thing, as before he wouldn't have heard such softly spoken words, but he still wasn't to the point where he could form a coherent reply to that. He vaguely felt the desire to repeat the words back to Harry, but all that came out was a grunt and a long moan.

*censored.

Harry kissed Draco passionately one more time, before settling on nibbling on Draco's bottom lip, so that Draco could take in rugged breaths.

While Draco panted, Harry accio'ed his wand and vanished the mess from both his robes and his pants.

Draco was still in Harry's strong arms when he came down from his naturally induced high. He opened his eyes and looked into Harry's deep green eyes and smiled.

"Did you get it?" Harry asked.

"Mmmhmmm, no thanks to you," Draco replied softly, without any bite.

"What do you mean no thanks to me? I was the one who just wanked you?" Harry asked incredulously. Personally, he thought he was getting quite good at wanking. Being called a wanker was sounding like a compliment to his ears.

"You abandoned your post to defile my pregnant arse. You're perverted Potter," Draco accused. His tone was sleepy and a bit mocking at the same time.

"It's not my fault you're hot! I thought you'd take it as a compliment that you can do that to me so easily."

"I am hot, that's true, but you took advantage of me for your own sick perverted pleasures. And here I am, pregnant to boot."

"Which part, exactly, was sick and perverted? When I was wanking you?" Harry asked amused.

"No, that part was your duty. You knocked me up; you have to take care of me."

"Kissing you then?"

"No," Draco replied, closing his eyes.

"Rubbing up against you?"

"Yes exactly. I'm tired. Be quiet now," Draco said half asleep.

"Okay, you have sweet dreams, but I'll have to leave you to go to detention."

"Mmmm," Draco replied, drifting off already.

Harry held Draco for a while longer, until he heard the pop of Dobby delivering their food that they had never gotten to eat the night before. Harry carefully got up and quietly walked to the dining table before he called, "Dobby."

"Yes Harry Potter, sir?" Dobby asked, reappearing with a pop in front of him.

"Draco is asleep, but he needs to eat dinner when he wakes up. Can you put a stasis charm on his plate and make sure he eats it?" Harry asked.

"Yes Harry Potter, sir. Draco Malfoy, sir, will eat his dinner, sir." Dobby snapped his fingers above Draco's plate, keeping it warm for him until he wakes up.

"Thanks Dobby, I really appreciate all your help. I'm gonna need to take care of Draco from now on and it would help me if you could check on him and get him food if he needs it."

"Harry Potter, sir, why is Dobby to be checking for Draco Malfoy, sir?"

"If I tell you something, will it be safe with you?"

"Oh yes Harry Potter, sir. If you tell Dobby not to tell, Dobby cannot be telling."

"I mean it Dobby, not a word, not even if Voldemort's torturing you."

"Yes Harry Potter, sir. Dobby will die to protect Harry Potter, sir."

"Can wizards use legilimency on a house elf?"

"No, Harry Potter, sir. Only an elf's master can compel an elf to speak and not even then can a wizard read the mind of an elf, sir," Dobby answered.

'He's not a person, he's an elf. Draco didn't say I couldn't tell elves and this is for his own good,' Harry thought, before saying, "Draco is pregnant with my son, Dobby. If you want to protect me, then you need to protect him and our baby. He'll need more food than normal to support the pregnancy."

"Oh yes Harry Potter sir. Dobby has been bringing Draco Malfoy all kinds of foods that are good for babies, sir. See sir?" Dobby asked, pointing to the dining room table that now contained chunks of tender beef on a bed of pasta, with a side of carrots.

"Dobby, are you saying you already knew Draco was pregnant?" Harry asked.

"Yes Harry Potter, sir. We elves are feeding Draco Malfoy, sir, good food and giving Draco Malfoy, sir, tea in the mornings, sir."

"Tea Dobby?"

"Yes, tea sir. Elven tea cures morning sickness, Harry Potter, sir."

"Morning sickness?" Harry asked turning pale with dread. Draco had already mentioned puking once; was there more of that in store for the near future?

"Yes sir. Kreacher is a bad house elf and doesn't give Draco Malfoy, sir, tea in Draco Malfoy, sir's, pumpkin juice, sir, but Hogwarts elves are good elves and mix tea in with juice."

"Does Draco know you're giving him tea in his pumpkin juice?" Harry asked.

"Dobby is not sure, sir. Draco Malfoy, sir, refuses to drink tea, so we elves have to put tea in Draco Malfoy, sir's, juice, sir."

"And how did you know he was pregnant? He didn't even know until last night."

"The smell, Harry Potter, sir. Draco Malfoy, sir, has smelled pregnant all week."

"Great, thank you Dobby. Just keep giving Draco tea in his pumpkin juice and healthy foods. And maybe check on him if he misses a meal."

"Yes sir. We elves leave Draco Malfoy, sir, snacks too, sir," Dobby said.

"Snacks? Where and when?"

"Elves leave a tray of vegetables in the Slytherin common room after dinner, sir. Only Draco Malfoy, sir, and a few of the other students eat them. And if elves see Draco Malfoy, sir, up in the night, elves leave things like fruit and cheese and crackers, sir."

"Thank you Dobby. I really appreciate this," Harry said.

"Is that all sir?"

"Yes Dobby," Harry dismissed the elf. Dobby disapparated and Harry sat down to eat by himself, seeing as he didn't have long before detention.

* * *

Author's Note: Last chapter Dumbledore put the idea of marriage into Harry's head and he's gonna want to propose soon, so they can marry before the baby is born. I really need your ideas for what makes a good romantic proposal that Draco would like. When I got pregnant, my baby daddy said that I could marry him or get an abortion and that was his idea of a proposal. I told him to fuck off and then when he tried again, this time with a ring and without the ultimatum, I laughed and he cut the proposal off there; needless to say we broke up soon after and I've never been married. So I don't have any personal experiences to draw from to help me out with writing a good proposal. If you have an idea or a good proposal story, I'd love to hear it!


	20. Chapter 20

Author's Note: Almost half of this chapter had to be censored :(

* * *

Harry finished his detention essay Monday night with time to spare. "I'm done, Professor Snape," he said laying his long parchment scrolls on Snape's desk.

"I hope you don't think you're done with your detention now that you have finished your assignment?" Snape asked blankly.

"No sir. Draco's coming by tomorrow to help me with occlumency and I have homework to do."

"Good. Get to it then Mr. Potter."

"Sir?"

"Yes Mr. Potter?"

"Draco was really upset before dinner, because you suggested he get an abortion."

"It is standard practice to recommend abortion in cases of rape, Mr. Potter."

"Well even if it is, Draco and I talked about it and we both want to keep this baby, so I'd appreciate if you wouldn't mention that to him again."

"Very well then. Is that all or do you have something else that needs my attention keeping you from your homework?"

"I want to thank you for checking him out. He said you agreed to be his healer and help deliver the baby. Thank you, sir."

"Do not go repeating that Mr. Potter; I have an image to uphold. Now get back to work and don't forget to take your basket this time," Snape said, motioning to where Harry's opened gift basket sat on his counter.

"Yes sir," Harry replied, retrieving the gift basket, shrinking it, and storing it in his backpack along with the other one. Then he went back to his seat to do all of the homework he hadn't gotten to earlier, because of his meeting with Draco.

Harry didn't finish his homework before ten that night, but he went to sleep after detention anyway. Professor Sprout would reprimand him for not knowing what hellebore is or how to handle it, so he'd have to figure that out during free period before lunch; maybe Neville could help. With that and his next batch of homework coming in, he had a lot to do, but he wanted to see Draco again. That morning he pulled out his coin, tapped his wand, and "3pm ROR" appeared. Five minutes later he felt the same coin burning his pocket and when he pulled it out, it read, "Yes." Harry had a date, so he went downstairs to breakfast happy, loading his plate up with eggs and toast.

"Harry, I'm done with your book," Hermione said discreetly handing Harry back the Peverell pregnancy book, which he tucked into his backpack. "I was thinking that we could talk about this before dinner today."

"I haven't had a chance to read it yet and I still have a lot of homework left. At this rate I won't be able to make our before dinner Quidditch practice tomorrow. Can this wait until tomorrow or Thursday even?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, sure. I just want you to know that I'm here for you, if you need to talk," she replied.

"Brilliant," Harry said with a smile, before glancing over to the Slytherin table. He wanted to see how Draco was doing. He wanted to know if he had a cup full of tea-spiked pumpkin juice and what he was eating for breakfast and if he had felt sick that morning.

"Is there something going on with Malfoy?" Hermione whispered.

"No? Why?" Harry asked, trying to pretend like he hadn't just been studying Malfoy's bowl from across the Great Hall. Why did Malfoy have a bowl in front of him, when everyone else had plates of eggs and toast? Had he asked for it, or had Dobby just made it appear in front of him? Would he be hungry later? Maybe he should get a snack to give him; something he could slip Draco in the hallway between classes.

"You keep watching him again," Hermione answered.

"I bet Malfoy's up to something. He's probably trying to get Harry kicked out of school. I bet he starts another fight soon," Ron said, leaning in from the other side of Hermione.

"I'm not going to get expelled, because I'm gonna leave him alone and I want you to do the same, Ron," Harry replied.

"He's right Ron, we can't be seen messing with him, any of us, or it will reflect badly on Harry. But we can help Harry resume his spying on Malfoy," Hermione replied.

"What? No, I decided to stop spying on him," Harry replied.

"Because you didn't have the time with Snape's detentions, but Ron and I can help out; we'll watch him this week for you," Hermione offered.

"Yeah mate, we've got your back," Ron added.

"No. Just no. I'm not spying on Malfoy anymore. That's how I got into trouble the last time. He's not up to anything, remember? That day in the bathroom I found out that he's just been worried about his mum. How would you feel if your dad was in prison and Voldemort had your mum?" Harry asked.

"Not good," Ron replied.

"Horrible. But Harry, something's changed with him, I can sense it. He's been acting more normal lately. I bet he joined Voldemort and got his mum back," Hermione whispered.

"No. Snape got Malfoy's mum back; he's keeping her at a safe house. That's why Malfoy has been acting more normal," Harry replied.

"How do you know all this?" Hermione asked accusingly.

"Detention. I overheard Snape and Malfoy talking about it in detention last week."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"I forgot about it; it wasn't important. And I didn't have time to tell you anyways, because I've been busy with all these detentions and buried under a load of homework. Now can we just drop it, eat our breakfast, and get to class?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, okay mate," Ron replied.

Hermione nodded and the three of them went back to eating. Just as Harry was finishing his toast, a shiny red apple caught his eye. There was a bowl of fruit on the table that he had ignored before, but the apple reminded him of his occlumency lesson with Draco last week, when Draco had been frustrated and asked Harry to think about something easy, like an apple. Harry grabbed the apple and stowed it in his backpack to give to Draco later.

Defense class passed as usual and afterwards Neville agreed to help him with his herbology homework. One bullet dodged, Harry felt relieved. Now he just had to insult Draco a bit in the hallway and possibly find a way to pass him the apple, before going with Neville to the library. He pulled the apple out in the hallway and began to wipe it off, as if he were planning to eat it.

"Oi Potter," Draco called, exiting the classroom.

"What Malfoy? Couldn't get into Voldemort's army, so you decide to practice on me, eh?" Harry asked, looking pointedly at the apple in his hand.

"No, I just heard a rumor and I was wondering if it was true," Draco baited.

"What ferret?"

"I heard that Snape wants you expelled. It's true, innit?"

"Yeah, so what? He's wanted me and Ron expelled since second year."

"Yeah, but now he's got Dumbledore on his side. He told me that if you so much as touch me, that you'll be expelled." Draco had a smug look on his face.

"Well I'm not touching you, am I?"

"No, but you can't do anything back to me, even if I do this," Draco said, snatching Harry's apple out of his hand and pushing Harry backwards.

Harry could've stood his ground and held onto the apple, but instead he let go and allowed himself to fall on his bum. He watched from the ground as Draco walked away, taking a bite of the apple. Harry had to suppress a smile that his plan had worked, because Ron was hooking an arm under his elbow and helping him up.

"Stupid blasted ferrety git. I'll get him back for you," Ron muttered.

"No, it's fine Ron, don't. I don't want to get in trouble and I'm not even hurt."

"Harry's right; you can't go after Malfoy, or he'll get blamed," Neville added.

"Exactly. Let's just get to the library," Harry said heading in the direction of the library.

The rest of the school day passed event-free and Harry found himself heading, finally, to the room of requirement to meet Draco. This time Harry had both gift baskets in his backpack and he wanted to start using the stretching potion, so he took the baskets out and unshrunk them. He put the unopened one on the top shelf of the closet in the hut and left the opened one on the dresser. He was just pulling out the stretching potion and trying to read the microscopic directions on the label, when Draco came in.

"What're you doing?" Draco asked, walking into the hut and setting his schoolbag down on the side of the bed. He noticed that it was a bed again, not the usual loveseat.

"I was trying to read the instructions on the stretching potion, but the writing is just too small," Harry answered, sitting on the edge of the bed with the potion.

"That's because it's shrunk to fit in the basket. You didn't think this little tub was all the potion you'd need for three months of anal stretching, did you?" Draco asked, sitting down next to him and taking the potion in his hand, before unskrinking it.

"Merlin's beard," Harry said, watching the small tub grow into a five gallon tub.

"You're so eloquent. Here, read your directions," Draco said handing the huge tub over. He already knew the basics.

"We don't need three months' worth, do we?" Harry asked. The tub was heavy, so he picked it up and set in on the dresser, next to the basket and wondered if all the little tubs of potions in the basket needed to be unshrunk.

"Well there's a chart in the basket that says it. I haven't measured myself; the largest take three months, but I'm certainly not among the largest."

"You're not? You certainly are the largest I've ever seen." He wasn't counting the ones in the book.

"Definitely not. Father said not to worry about it though, because I'm still growing. He said it will keep growing until I'm about twenty."

"So you're not the largest yet, but you will be?"

"You do know I'm a pureblood, right?" Draco asked. Harry nodded. "And I told you the saying, the purer the blood the bigger the dick?"

"Yeah…" Harry replied.

"I'm really pureblooded. I've got loads of Peverells in my ancestry."

"Great. I'll just have to stretch my arse accordingly," Harry replied, finding the chart in the basket. On one side it had a chart with penis lengths and widths and the corresponding length of time the stretching potion would need to be used. Harry flipped it over and found that the other side had the directions for a measuring spell. "There's a measuring spell here."

"Let me see; I don't want you aiming your wand at my bits," Draco replied, so Harry handed the chart over.

Draco took five minutes to study the spell and practice casting it on the tub of stretching potion, before he dared cast it on his dick.

"Eh Harry?" Draco asked blushing.

"Yeah Draco?"

"You gotta get me hard before I can cast the spell. Can you kiss me?"

"Anytime," Harry replied before taking Draco into his arms and snogging him senseless.

Draco's head was spinning from the lack of blood flow to the brain and his unoxygenated state, resulting from struggling to breathe through his nose, as his mouth was currently blocked by the intense heat of Harry's mouth. Harry's tongue was in his mouth and Harry's lips were on his lips, sealing their mouths shut. Draco's heart was pounding, rushing all the blood in his body straight to his dick, quickly solving his measuring problem.

"How's that?" Harry asked, breaking away from the kiss and giving Draco a chance to breathe.

"Perfect," Draco replied, still panting. "I'll just go in the loo and um…measure," Draco answered.

Draco went into the bathroom, pulled his robes up and his pants down, revealing his newly awakened dick. He carefully cast the spell and his measurements glowed in green lettering above his dick. He tucked his dick away and fixed his robe back into place, before exiting the bathroom. "Thirty-two centimeters long and nine centimeters in diameter, which means about two months," Draco said putting the chart back in the basket and sitting once more on the bed next to Harry.

"End of term, that's brilliant," Harry replied.

"Don't go thinking that just because your arse is ready that I'm gonna bugger you, because I won't," Draco warned.

"Oh don't worry, I'm willing to wait until marriage. I'm just glad I can get the stretching done now and not have to bring the potion with me back to the Dursleys. Can you imagine how awkward it'd be to stretch my arse with my aunt in the next room and my cousin barging through my door?" Harry lied.

Harry wanted his marriage proposal to be a surprise and he didn't even have a ring yet. He would have to get a ring this weekend in Hogsmeade and he would have to ask Draco's mother for his hand in marriage and get a lawyer to arrange a marriage contract. He wanted to get married before the baby was born. The sooner the better, because he didn't know what would happen; Voldemort could get to Harry without warning and Harry wanted to leave Draco as prepared as possible, and having a legal second parent for their baby was part of that.

"Good," Draco replied, slightly relieved. He was still a little worried that Harry would try to jump his dick as soon as he could, but maybe Harry had come to see things his way, the pureblooded way.

"Now, how do I get it from this tub, into my bum?" Harry asked.

"With one of the applicators and fingers," Draco replied getting up from the bed to retrieve a box of applicators from the basket. He unshrunk it and handed it to Harry.

"Great," Harry said looking at the weird device. It was the width of a potions vial, but had a moving plunger that pushed into the main barrel.

"There should be a spell to get the potion to go into the applicator," Draco said retrieving the booklet of sex spells from the basket, before sitting down on the bed with it. "Here we go." Draco followed the directions on the card and cast the spell that filled the applicator with stretching potion.

"Brilliant," Harry replied.

"Now you need to strip and use the preparation charms again."

"All of them? The cleaning, stretching, and lubricating charms?" Harry asked, getting up and removing his clothes. Would he need the lubricating charm if he was putting the stretching potion inside him?

"The cleaning charm is probably superfluous, now that you don't have to worry about excrement, but it doesn't hurt to do it and there might be blood or something left over from Sunday, so go ahead and do it."

"But do I need the lubricant one too if I'm using the potion?" He was standing awkwardly in front of the bed, naked, while Draco was still fully clothed in his school robes.

"Yeah, it'll make it easier for the applicator to go in. It's pretty big for someone who has only ever had a finger up there."

Harry wanted to make a comment about the applicator being smaller than a turd and he had had plenty of turds pass through there, but he didn't think that was an appropriate comment, so he kept it to himself. "Alright," he said and cast the three charms, one at a time. "Now what?"

"Now lie on the bed with your arse up and I'll put the potion in."

Harry did as instructed.

*censored.

"Are you okay?" Draco asked, quickly pulling his finger out and wiping it on the bedspread. Next time he would have to get some towels from the bathroom.

"Yeah. Too good," Harry replied sated.

"The stretching potion has made a mess all over your bum," Draco said, lying down next to Harry, who was still scrunched up with his head in his arms and is arse in the air. The white potion was dripping down his legs and onto the bedspread and he really didn't think he could watch it anymore. It wasn't just because it was making a mess, but more because it was hot.

"Okay. I'll bathe or vanish it or something," Harry replied lazily.

"Harry?"

Draco's voice sounded like something was wrong and although Harry was blissed out right now, the pregnancy was new and fresh on his mind, so he was on high alert for any possible pregnancy complications and jumped up at the sound of Draco's voice. "What is it? Is the baby okay?"

When Harry rose up to his knees concerned, Draco averted his eyes from his naked spunk covered boyfriend, grossed out by all the fluids leaking out of him. What had been hot moments before suddenly wasn't so hot now. He gagged for a second, but it stopped before anything came up. "Um, could you clean that up first?" Draco asked, his hand still cupping his mouth like he expected to be sick any minute now.

"Yeah, right away," Harry said, rushing to fix the problem before Draco puked. He vanished his cum and the excess stretching potion, cast a few cleaning charms, and found a fresh pair of pants from the dresser and a pair of pajama bottoms, which he put on. "Better?"

"Yeah, loads," Draco replied, no longer averting his eyes or cupping his mouth. Instead he sat with his back against the headboard, his knees up to his chest, and his arms wrapped around his knees.

"What's wrong? Is it the baby? Or the sickness?" Harry asked, joining Draco on the bed and sitting next to him.

"Oh yeah, the baby is very distressed. It's quite awful really."

"Why?" Harry asked thinking that there was a disconnect between how Draco was acting and the words he had said.

"You've neglected my dick; all that dick stress isn't good for the baby," Draco replied with a smirk.

"You wanker! I thought there was something really wrong at first," Harry complained.

"There was: I was horny _and_ I was gonna puke."

"But I solved the puking part, so now I just need to fix the horny part and the baby will be alright?" Harry asked snickering.

"You're the one who brought up the baby. Instead of asking if I was alright, you jumped right to there being something wrong with the baby, completely forgetting that my neglected dick is _killing_ me."

"Well let's see it then," Harry replied smiling and reaching over to help Draco take his robes off.

Draco's dick got stuck in his pants, because it was just so achingly hard. The waist band was too tight and he couldn't get his dick to bend or move. It was tucked away in its pocket of wizard space and wouldn't come out. Maneuvering his giant hard on out of his pants was always like solving a three-dimensional puzzle, but now that was made so much harder by the painful arousal; every brush against fabric resulted in a hiss of pain.

Harry noticed Draco's predicament and decided to take the opportunity to ask about the unusual pants Draco always wore. "So, um…how'd you get the extra space in your pants? Do you charm them yourself?"

"No, my father can afford to buy me the best clothes the wizarding world has to offer; we don't have to make our clothes ourselves," Draco replied getting very frustrated very quickly.

"You're father bought you these pants?" Harry asked, trying not to laugh. For some reason he thought it was hilarious that Lucius Malfoy went to a clothing shop and ordered tailored pants to accommodate his son's giant cock.

"Yes, that's what happens when you're not orphaned practically at birth. Mother buys the dress robes and such and father covers the personal bits, like pants."

"Alright, how about we just cut this pair off you? You've got loads more clothes I bet," Harry replied, trying to be practical, but also trying to distract himself from laughing.

"No, I don't have loads anymore. Mother's been indisposed and father's been in Azkaban, if you hadn't noticed. I've grown this year, so all my old clothes don't fit anymore. I'm scraping the bottom of the clothing barrel and I definitely won't be able to get anymore pants until after this war ends or father comes home," Draco said, starting to cry. He was leaving out the part about needing bigger clothes to accommodate a growing baby within his body, but he was trying not to think about that, lest he break out into full blown sobs.

"It's okay Draco, I'll order you some new clothes. We'll figure out what you need and put in an order by owl and have them delivered to the school," Harry said wrapping his arms around Draco and pulling him into his arms.

Draco didn't reply, other than to nod and hold onto one of Harry's arms as it wrapped comforting around him.

After a few minutes he began to notice that Draco was squirming in his lap and that reminded him that Draco had wanted to be wanked. "Here, let me help you with that," Harry said reaching into Draco's pants, wanking him without taking the pants off, and leaving the other arm wrapped around his torso. Harry too, couldn't free the hard member from its confines, but he decided not to worry about that and instead concentrated on wanking it.

Harry had his hand under the fabric of Draco's pants and inserted into his dick's wizard space. From where Draco was looking down at his crotch, it looked like Harry's arm went in his waistband and disappeared, because his pants were as flat as ever, except for the waistband, which bulged out like there was an arm in his pants. But although Draco couldn't see what Harry's hand was doing, he could certainly feel it.

*censored

* * *

Author's Note: I'm still looking for inspiration for wedding proposal ideas. Harry needs a couple different ideas to consider…

Please Review!


	21. Chapter 21

Author's Notes: No censorship was needed in this chapter.

* * *

Draco seemed completely spent with the exertion of his orgasm, so Harry cleaned them both up, even casting a vanishing charm on the pool of fluids that were soaking Draco's pants. Then he tucked Draco into his side, encouraging him to snuggle in and fall asleep. Harry liked the feeling of Draco sleeping against him, so he stayed there and held him for fifteen minutes, doing nothing more than thinking and using his hands to gently explore Draco's body. But Harry was worried he might wake Draco up if he continued, so he decided to accio his backpack and get to work on his homework.

Harry was reading his transfiguration textbook, when Draco stirred in his arms. "Did you have a good nap?" Harry asked, putting down his book and returning his arms to cuddle Draco.

"Mmmhmm," Draco replied sleepily.

"That's twice now you've fallen asleep on me. Are you getting enough rest at night?" Harry asked concerned.

"Yeah, but I keep waking up having to pee all night long."

"You haven't been sick again, have you?" Harry asked. After Draco nearly puking earlier and his admission that he had barfed Saturday, Harry was concerned that his boyfriend might be trying to hide a problem with morning sickness.

"Not much. I've been nauseous a lot, like earlier, but I've only vomited twice," Draco revealed.

"When was the other time?"

"Last Thursday. I woke up with a plate of kippers in my bed and hurled," Draco revealed.

"What were you doing with kippers in your bed?" Harry fought back a giggle, because he didn't want to laugh at his pregnant boyfriend, but he was imagining that Draco went for a midnight snack and fell asleep with it.

"Vince thinks he's being funny. He doesn't understand that his little pranks aren't humorous, just annoying and occasionally disgusting."

"Oh," Harry replied, not quite sure what he should say to that. "Do you want me to beat him up for you?"

"No, I've got it handled. Greg already hexed him."

"And is that the only other time it's happened? It hasn't been getting worse?" Harry asked with concern.

"Really, you want me to tell you every time I hurl? You better not start being overprotective or overbearing," Draco warned.

"I'm just curious. I want to know how bad it is; maybe I can find something to help settle your stomach."

"Do you now?" Draco asked and Harry nodded. "Food helps settle my stomach. Go pick me some lilikoi and some limpids while I get dressed."

"Lilikoi and limpids?" Harry asked confused.

"Yes Potter, lilikoi, the passion fruit we ate from the forest, and limpids, the snails I ate from the lava rocks."

"But I don't know how to use your surfboard thing."

"It's a longboard and you don't have to use it, just climb over the rocks or use your wand. Accio them for all I care. You know what, never mind, this is the room of requirement, so I'm just going to require that it provide me with another can of macadamia nuts," Draco said and a small can of honey roasted macadamia nuts appeared on the nightstand on his side of the bed.

"So I don't need to get the snails and passion fruit?" Harry asked wary of Draco's mood swings.

Draco munched happily on his snack while he thought about it, before saying, "You know what? Yes, I would still like a few of each. You knocked me up, Potter, go provide."

"Yes sir," Harry replied climbing out of bed.

Harry went into the forest first, trying to locate the tree with the vine growing along its trunk. He remembered that it had white and dark purple flowers and yellow fruits, so he kept an eye out for purple or yellow in the green and lilac. And then suddenly there was a tree in front of him with a vine laden with round yellow fruits. Harry picked a half dozen and carried them back to the dining table, where he sat them down.

"I got the passion fruit," Harry called to Draco, who was standing at the doorway to the hut, now fully dressed.

"Brilliant. Here, you can take one of my limpid shells to scrape the limpids from the rocks," Draco said, holding out a single purple shell. This one was free of whatever green and brown plant material that had been on the shells before, making the ridges clearly definable.

"Thanks, I'll just go get them then," Harry said taking the shell and putting it in the pocket in his robes.

"And watch out for the lava, eh, it's sharp," Draco warned, sitting down at the dining table facing the beach and cracking open a lilikoi.

"Sure thing," Harry said, before walking over to the boulders of lava between the beach and the hut.

Harry was about to climb over the lava boulders, when he considered Draco's warning and remembered that Draco had left his broom here before. Harry had had his broom here too that day, but he had Quidditch, and so his broom was back in his dorm room. But Draco had quit the Quidditch team, so Harry held out hope that it might be in the storage shed, with all their other beach related paraphernalia. The storage shed was only a foot away from him, so he stepped over to it and opened it up. The snorkel gear was on one side and a longboard, paddle, and Draco's nimbus two thousand and one was on the other.

Harry grabbed Draco's broom, closed the door to the storage cabinet, and took off into the air. He pulled the shell out of his pocket and positioned the broom over the gentle waves, facing the lava rocks, and set about to look for snails. Harry looked, but all he saw was black rocks and blue water; no purple shells, no green and brown plant matter, only black and blue. Harry was about to give up, when he heard Draco's voice.

Draco stood on the beach near the lava rocks, eating a half of a lilikoi, and said, "Oi Harry, they're camouflaged."

"What?" Harry asked.

"Camouflaged; it means they blend into the rocks and they're hard to see. Try using your hands to feel for them the first time," Draco replied, taking another slurping bite of his fruit and settling in to watch the show.

"Camouflaged," Harry muttered to himself, reaching out to feel for snails on the rock.

The rock looked hard and sturdy, but he found bits of black came away easily in his hands when he touched it. He looked down and realized that it wasn't bits of rock that came away, but tiny black snails. He turned one of the tiny snails over in his hand and saw the little head tuck itself back into its shell, covering itself with a tiny dark grey foot. Well they were snails, but they weren't the kind Draco had asked for. Harry was just about to put the snail back when one started scurrying away along his hand, down his arm. Harry jumped and flung his arm about wildly, dislodging the snails and whatever the other thing was.

"It's just a hermit crab, Harry," Draco said laughing from the beach.

"Alright, I can do this, just give me a second," Harry said searching the rocks again.

The broom handle just barely touched the rock and a black crab took the opportunity to crawl onto the black broom handle and scurry along, as Harry searched for limpids, completely unaware. Now that Harry looked closer and knew what he was looking for, he could distinguish the small black snails from the surface of the black rock. Harry felt the surface of the rock with his outstretched hands, certain that a limpid was going to pop out any second now…and then he felt it.

Harry looked down and saw a black crab on his naked chest, just above the waist of the pajama pants he still wore. He screamed, flailed at the crab, and fell off the broom into the water, and landed harshly against the large lava boulders. The lava was sharp and cut into his skin in several places. And from the beach, Draco laughed. Draco doubled over in fits of uncontrolled laughter.

Harry climbed back onto the broom, soaking wet and flew to the beach, dismounting right in front of Draco. Harry stared down at Draco, completely pissed that his boyfriend found his failure so hysterical.

"You think this is funny, eh Draco?" Harry asked. He cast drying and cleaning charms on himself, but his cuts continued to bleed, so he still looked a mess.

"Yes," Draco answered, looking up and seeing the death glare Harry was giving him. He stopped laughing and stood up straight. "Oi, don't be mad Harry, I was sharing a lesson with you that my father taught me."

"And what was that? Never date a Malfoy if you don't want to make an arse out of yourself for them?" Harry asked, still mad.

"No, don't go around making babies you can't provide for. If can't do the providing, don't do the procreating. I just figured that with you being an orphan and all, you didn't have a father to teach you that."

"I'm not gonna cheat on you, if that's what you're thinking."

"No, I wasn't thinking that, but now that you mention it, you do have witches climbing all over you, because you're the chosen one. If you try it, I'll hex your ballocks off."

"I don't have witches climbing all over me."

"Really? And the Weaselette would be what then? And the Vance girl? The Patel girl? The Chang girl?" Draco asked.

"Ginny, Cho, and Parvati are _not_ climbing all over me and I haven't touched them. Romilda is a piece of work though; she tried to slip me a love potion in some chocolates, but Ron ate them instead. Bloody mess that was."

"Well just so you get the point and keep it that way."

"You happened to be my first and hopefully my only, but if you're gonna be an arse about this pregnancy…"

"What? You'll leave me knocked up, under aged, with the Dark Lord after me, to fend for myself, with no father to protect me?" Draco asked scathingly. Yes his father shouldn't have been attacking children in the Ministry of Magic, but Harry had put his father away, leaving Draco in a bad position, and then Harry made it worse by knocking him up with the spawn of the Chosen One. Draco was not about to cut him any slack and he wanted to make it very clear from the beginning that he expected to be provided for and protected.

"No, I'll take care of you until the baby is born and Voldemort is dead. But if you're gonna be a prick all the time, I can't see us staying married."

"I'm not gonna be a prick all the time. I just don't want to make this pregnancy easy on you, because I don't want you to think it's all roses and sunshine and go and do it again. You made this baby and you're gonna put in the work, same as me. And if I have some strange pregnancy cravings, I expect you to get your bum out on those rocks and fetch me some limpids."

"I can live with that. Are you having pregnancy cravings now? Is that why you wanted the limpids?" Harry asked concerned. He hadn't thought about pregnancy cravings yet.

"Not much. I've noticed that I can't stand chicken anymore and some things smell weird, but there hasn't been a strong craving for anything in particular. I asked for the limpids and such, because I was starving. I haven't eaten since lunch and I engaged in a lot of physical activity and when I woke up here, I thought about the island foods the room had given me before and wanted some."

"Are you still hungry? It'll be dinner in half an hour. We could stay up here, call Dobby, and eat now," Harry offered.

"I can wait until dinner. And I think we should make an effort to eat in the Great Hall more often, because my friends are starting to notice that I'm skipping a lot of meals."

"Alright, then what do you want to do now?" Harry asked, thinking about the ocean. He had just been dunked in it, but it was warm and inviting water and he could fancy a relaxing swim.

"Weren't you doing homework before? I have an essay due tomorrow that I've barely started," Draco answered.

"Yeah, let's get some homework done," Harry replied, deciding that the ocean would have to wait.

Draco and Harry worked on their homework for half an hour, before gathering their things and heading out. Harry left under his invisibility cloak and stopped by the common room first, so that it would not appear as if he and Draco were arriving together. Harry had to make a deliberate effort not to look over at the Slytherin table for Draco, so that Ron and Hermione wouldn't start up their conversation about spying on him again.

Draco met Harry in detention, arriving separately to keep up appearances. They started with the apple again, to give Draco something easy to focus on in his strive to learn legilimency and that really seemed to help, because Draco got it after only a few tries. Draco entered Harry's mind and saw this morning's events from an apple-centric viewpoint. The apple catching Harry's eye, Harry's decision to give the apple to Draco, Harry putting the apple in his backpack, Harry later taking the apple out of his backpack, Harry hoping Draco would notice the apple and take it from him, Draco finally taking the apple and biting it.

Once the apple memory finished playing, Draco attempted to dive deeper into Harry's mind and came up with…apples. The apple memory replayed. Draco tried to break through the apple memory and come up with something else, but he kept hitting a road block made up of apples. After ten minutes, he gave up and broke the link to Harry's mind.

"You did it!" Harry exclaimed, giving Draco a hug in congratulations.

"No, I couldn't get passed your apples," Draco replied with disappointment.

"You got in and saw the apples. That's what I built my occlumency shield out of: apples," Harry replied smiling. Focusing on one specific memory was one of the tricks his occlumency book recommended for beginners. It would be better if his mind was completely blank, but focusing on one thing was a way to train the mind to focus and eventually he would be able to work up to focusing on nothing.

"You were occluding me with apples?"

"Yep and it worked."

"I think I liked you better when you didn't know occlumency," Draco replied teasingly.

"Yes, but then you'd have to obliviate me; you said it yourself," Harry replied.

"As touching as this momentary success is, perhaps we should continue," Snape interrupted.

"Yeah, okay," Harry replied. "I'm ready."

"With your apples?" Draco teased.

"Draco, I got so many apples you won't know what to do with them all," Harry replied with a large grin.

"Such comments are not necessary in my classroom," Snape scolded. "Please continue boys."

"Yes Professor Snape," Draco replied before diving back into Harry's mind. This time he saw…a red apple. It was the same apple memory, but he decided to take another tactic to break through, now that he knew this was Harry's shield. Instead of trying to get a different memory entirely, he tried to get more out of this memory. He explored the strings and threads that wove together and tied the pieces of the apple-centric shield together.

There was the fading memory of a class before Harry had let Draco take the apple. Draco was able to tease apart the missing hours, but that was incredibly long and boring and felt like it would take hours. Plus, it wasn't giving him any new information, because Draco had been in the same class with Harry. Draco refocused, this time determined to find out the motivations behind the apple-shield. Why had Harry given him the apple? Draco pulled and tugged and eventually Harry slipped, revealing that Harry had wanted Draco to eat a snack, for the baby.

'Why would Harry want me to eat a snack for the baby? Does he think I'm not eating enough? I've been eating like a hippocamp lately,' Draco thought to himself and decided to keep pulling on this string of thought.

It took another ten minutes, but eventually an image of Dobby slipped through. Dobby was standing next to their table in the room of requirement; they appeared to be talking. Dobby talking to Harry led to Harry thinking Draco needed to eat more and then the apple. 'Maybe Dobby said something to make Harry think I'm not eating enough…' Draco thought. But that didn't make sense, because Draco was eating more than normal. 'Harry must've told the elf about the baby, even after I forbade him to tell anyone!'

Draco broke the link and glared daggers at Harry. His voice was seething with his anger, "You told the _elf_ about _my_ baby, after I strictly _forbade_ it!?"

"No, Draco, I didn-" Harry tried to explain, but Draco cut him off.

"What part of tell no one or I obliviate you did you not get through that thick skull of yours? I know you got hit in the head with the killing curse, but I didn't know it could kill brain cells!"

"Wait Draco, let me explain…" Harry pleaded.

"Explain? Explain how snot and friendships with elves are worth more than my life and my baby's life?"

"No, I didn't betray you. Dobby already knew."

"Let me make this clear Potter, if _you_ get _my_ baby killed, I'll kill you myself and turn your corpse over to the Dark Lord, so that he can reanimate your corpse into an inferius to guard his live-muggle snake food!"

"I agree. If I get our baby killed, then I will willingly let you kill me, give my corpse to Voldemort, let him turn me into whatever that was you said, and guard the muggles to feed to Nagini," Harry replied, trying to throw Draco off-guard by proving that he was listening. "Now if you'll just listen to me, I can explain how I didn't betray you to the evil house elves."

"Good, well as long as that's settled, go on," Draco replied calmly, like the eye in the middle of the storm.

"First of all, Dobby already knew. He told me that all of the elves know, because they can smell the pregnancy on you."

"This is not good…not good at all…" Draco said, sitting down on a chair and pulling his knees into his chest to think.

"Mr. Potter, I was not aware that elves could smell human pregnancy," Snape said.

"Well Dobby said they can. He said the elves have known for a week and have been giving him extra food.

"So the banana in my hair this morning wasn't Vince?" Draco asked. "And the tomato yesterday? And the cheese and crackers Sunday? And the grapes Friday? And the kippers Thursday? And the peach Wednesday?" And the oatmeal last Tuesday?

"I was not aware that you were waking up with food in your bed, Mr. Malfoy. I know you are a prefect, but perhaps, if the situation is out of control, you could inform your head of house?" Snape asked.

"The elves left you Oatmeal in your bed last week?" Harry asked laughing. The thought of waking up with kippers on his pillow was repulsive, yet hilarious, but Draco had already mentioned that. He had failed to mention the other food items.

"I thought it was Vince. He likes to play pranks, but he's not that smart," Draco replied.

"I'm so sorry; I'll have a talk with the elves and get them to stop putting the food in your bed. Maybe they could leave you something on your nightstand?" Harry asked, walking over to Draco and wrapping his arms around him.

"Yeah, maybe. But no oatmeal. Do you know how hard it was to get my hair back to normal after that? I was almost late to breakfast, but thankfully Pansy helped me in my state of need. She's always been one to recognize a true emergency," Draco replied.

"Maybe no kippers too," Harry added.

"As touching as this all is, we have a very serious potential security breach and you should have come to me at once, Mr. Potter," Snape said sternly.

"That's right! You didn't tell me of the danger; you kept it to yourself. What I said earlier still stands, expect maybe add in something about feeding your ballocks to scorpions," Draco said.

"But Nagini might need my ballocks to guard the live muggles," Harry replied.

"Be that as it may, if I find it necessary to do so, it will be done. I'm sure my father will be more than happy to arrange it when he returns," Draco retorted.

"Well, I don't think the elves will be a problem. I swore Dobby to secrecy and he told me that the elves won't betray me to Voldemort. He assured me that wizards cannot perform legilimency on elves and that he would rather be tortured and killed than betray me. Now if this is a real concern, then maybe we could take the elves aside one at a time and get them to swear oaths of secrecy and loyalty," Harry said.

"That sounds like an excellent plan Mr. Potter. Perhaps you can talk to the elves about arranging Draco's nighttime snacks, while I pay the headmaster a visit and discuss the house elf situation. Mr. Malfoy, you may go for now, but I would advise you to be aware of your surroundings and any possible house elves at all times. There is a most unpleasant house elf under Harry's care and it would be best to make him swear loyalty tonight to Draco as well as make him promise to keep the secret about the pregnancy. But in general, it would be safest to avoid exposing yourself to unknown dangers and unknown house elves. Thus I would advise you to limit yourself to the castle and to Grimmauld Place," Snape said.

"Yes Professor Snape. I'll just go do my homework. See you Thursday at three?" Draco asked Harry.

There wasn't anywhere Draco needed to go outside the castle and Grimmauld place. Sure there is a Hogsmeade weekend coming up, but for the sake of his baby, he could sit this one out. Besides, he really didn't want to run into Madam Rosmerta; he hadn't seen her since she was imperiused and he had no idea how Professor Snape's obliviation had gone. Hopefully the memory charm would hold upon seeing Draco, but he didn't want to take that chance. He needed Harry to protect him right now and he wasn't sure how Harry would react if he were to find out that it was him who sent the necklace and poisoned mead. Thus it was best to keep that knowledge safely tucked away until this Voldemort thing blows over…maybe even longer. What Harry didn't know wasn't hurting him and Draco was a Slytherin with his own self-interest at heart.

"Yeah," Harry replied giving Draco a chaste kiss goodbye.

Draco and Snape left and Harry set about contacting Kreacher, to swear him to loyalty and secrecy, and Dobby, to arrange for Draco to only be left snacks on his nightstand. "Oh and Dobby? Don't leave anything wet, mushy, or fishy, so no oatmeal or kippers, alright?" Harry added.

"Yes Harry Potter, sir. Dobby is not leaving oatmeal or kippers for Draco Malfoy, sir. Is that all sir?" Dobby asked.

As Dobby had already agreed to take over all Draco-related duties, including leaving him snacks on his nightstand, Harry didn't have anything else for him and dismissed the elf. Snape hadn't returned, but Harry knew better than to walk out of a detention with Professor Snape before it was over. Thus Harry pulled out his homework and got to work.

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Please review!


	22. Chapter 22

Author's Notes: No censorship was needed in this chapter.

* * *

Wednesday, Harry's homework pile was still teaming over, but at least he had done all of his assignments that were due that day. He did his usual breakfast with Hermione and Ron, stowing away an apple for later, and went to transfigurations class. He even got Draco to take his apple from him after class. Harry was just shining his apple in the hallway when Draco came up to him and said, "Oi Potter, you know the drill: hand it over."

Harry complied and handed the apple over, although he had to stop Ron from stepping in. "It's alright Ron, I didn't really want that apple anyway. I'm not hungry anymore."

"Still, it's the principle of the thing. That's twice now," Ron replied. His ears were pink, but at least they weren't red.

"Harry's right Ron. We all agreed; he has to lay low and just not react to Malfoy. Give it a couple of days and Malfoy will get bored and move on to something else," Hermione said.

"Yeah, like tormenting first years," Ron replied huffing.

"Well we have a free period and I for one am buried under a pile of homework," Harry said, walking back to the common room with his friends. This was the only day of the week that Hermione had a free period.

Harry did have loads of homework to work on, but none of that was due until tomorrow and most of it wasn't due until Friday, so he figured he would have plenty of time to do it in detention with Snape. As it were, there was something a lot more pressing on his mind: the Peverell pregnancy book Dumbledore had given him. He had gotten it back from Hermione, but hadn't had a chance to read it. After Draco's mood swings and almost cravings and the midnight snacks being left by the house elves, Harry really wanted to know what else he should be expecting. Therefore, when they got back to the common room, he plopped in a comfy chair in front of the fire, pulled out the Peverell pregnancy book, and started reading.

Most of the facts of life concerning Peverells were the same as those concerning normal witches, wizards, and muggles. Harry hadn't had a sex education class since muggle school and he had certainly never been around a pregnant person before, but he knew most of the basics. The baby would take nine months to mature and was housed inside a uterus. Babies were made during sex with the combining of sex cells…here Harry found his first difference between regular ordinary humans and Peverells. Instead of producing egg and sperm cells, Peverell wizards produce the centaur sex cells. Centaurs only have one type of sex cell that are half the size of a human egg, but motile like a human sperm. There was a direct channel between the ballocks and the uterus, so ejaculation was not necessary for the mother, which was defined as the person carrying the child. When two identical sex cells from different people meet in the uterus, they fuse to form a zygote that then divides to produce a baby. In humans, only the mother contributes mitochondria, and the case with centaurs was similar, in that only one parent's mitochondria were past on, but it was the father's; father was defined as the parent who was not carrying the child in his womb.

The book disagreed with Draco about which parent was normally labeled as the father and which one the mother, but Draco seemed adamant about being the father and he didn't really care which one he was labeled. Plus, if they ever had another child, they would do it the other way around and he didn't want one of their children calling him mum and the other one calling him dad, so he decided to leave it and not mention it to Draco, because it would only upset him.

Pregnancy symptoms were the same in Peverell wizards as in humans. Draco could expect to experience morning sickness, nausea, mood swings, frequent urination, difficulty breathing, back pain, and swollen feet and ankles. Draco already had half of that and Harry paled at the thought of dealing with a Draco suffering from back pain, swollen ankles, and difficulty breathing. But Harry persisted and continued reading, which paid off because the next paragraph listed horniness as a symptom and advised that frequent sex was good for a pregnant Peverell.

Sex with Draco was a very important subject, so Harry paid close attention and read this section carefully. It said that sex was permissible during the entire pregnancy and that the pregnant person could bugger as well as be buggered. There was a warning that being buggered during the last month might trigger labor, because buggering could be strenuous activity. It therefore recommended that the pregnant Peverell lie down and have the partner ride their dick, especially during the last month, to minimize stress on the baby. Apparently sex was a good stress reliever and healthy for the baby.

Harry made a mental note on the sex details and stress relief and continued on. There was the usual information on fetal development, which Harry skipped through, thinking he would have to come back to this part later. He didn't have all that much time before lunch and his charms class and there was a much more critical part of the pregnancy that Harry wanted to know about: labor and birth. Thus Harry turned to the last section of the book and began to read.

Labor would progress as in a normal human, except that a much larger secondary cervix would form on the pregnant Peverell wizard's lower abdomen. Often it formed over the belly button, because that was where the skin was thinnest, but location was known to vary slightly. The secondary cervix would grow during the course of the labor and then dilate, opening up to a size sufficient to remove the baby. Often one parent would reach in and help the baby out, but if the baby was left in, the cervix would just keep opening until a baby could be forced through. All Draco would have to do was lay on his side and the baby would eventually come out of the large hole in his uterus.

To Harry, the process sounded like conducting a caesarean section in the middle of the wilderness, with no medical supplies or surgeon. He was imagining Draco with horrible life-threatening infections after the birth, so he was quite relieved when the next paragraph started on the magical barriers in the body that prevented disease from entering the uterus during the birthing process and how the body would naturally heal itself and the placenta would be expelled. The secondary cervix would close, seal up, and disappear, leaving fresh, unmarked skin behind.

The book went on to cover post-birth care of the infant. The umbilical cord would have to be tied and cut. The baby would have to be washed and dried carefully. And most amazingly, the baby would be fed from the small teats of the mother. The normally human male breasts on a Peverell would change to resemble the teats of a horse, although not quite so elongated. To Harry, they looked like a cross between a small breasted witch and the teats of a horse. It was strange and Harry was glad he was finding out about this now and not in front of Draco. The last thing he needed was to set Draco off about Harry looking at his tits funny.

"Harry, are you alright? You look like you're gonna hurl," Ron said, looking over at his friend.

"Yeah Ron, I was just reading something disturbing," Harry replied honestly.

"Harry, I thought you were doing homework. Oh never mind, what's important is that you're reading that book and we can finally talk about it. I want you to know that Ron and I will stand by you and support you if this is what you choose to do," Hermione said, taking surreptitious glances at the cover of Harry's book.

"What are you talking about Hermione?" Ron asked.

Harry closed his book and set it on his lap so he could think for a minute.

"Harry's reading his book about Peverell pregnancies," Hermione clarified. "I just want him to know that we're okay with this and if he chooses to get pregnant, we'll support him."

"What do you mean, if he chooses to get pregnant, Hermione? Most Peverell wizards are just like any other bloke: they marry witches and the witches get pregnant and have the babies. Just because he has the girly bits, doesn't make him a ponce," Ron replied.

"Well if Harry chooses to be a ponce, I for one, will support him. Being his friend Ronald, I would think you'd support him as well," Hermione replied.

"I do support him, but that doesn't make him a ponce! When this You-Know-Who stuff blows over, he's gonna be a bloke like any other bloke and settle down with a nice witch. At least half of all wizards are Peverell wizards and they don't go around getting pregnant. No, they find a nice witch, marry her, and make her carry the babies. Harry's not gonna be any different," Ron replied.

"You should listen to yourself right now: you sound so chauvinistic that I want to scream. I'd walk out of the room right now if it weren't for Harry," Hermione said, returning her attention to Harry and cutting her fight with Ron short. "Harry, what do you think about this whole Peverell thing?"

"Um, I agree with Hermione," Harry replied. He wasn't about to divulge his secret relationship with Draco, not after getting his balls handed to him last night about Dobby, but there were facts about him that he could tell his friends.

"But you're not a ponce and aren't gonna let some bloke bugger you and knock you up," Ron protested.

"Actually Ron, I was thinking that I am a ponce and would like some bloke to bugger me. I'm not sure about the pregnancy thing, but that can wait; I just barely read this book. It's a bit a shock, really," Harry replied.

"You're a what? You can't be…" Ron stammered.

"Ronald, I suggest you shut your mouth now, because you just keep shoving your foot further up it," Hermione said, squeezing Harry's hand.

"Thanks Hermione," Harry replied, giving her a weak smile.

"Anytime. I, at least, will support you if you…you know…find a boyfriend," Hermione said.

"Brilliant," Harry replied.

"Um, since when? Harry, I'm gonna still be your friend and stuff, but I just want to know how and when you decided this. It seems to have happened so fast. I mean, you just found out Sunday that you're a Peverell wizard and now you're a ponce and considering having babies?" Ron rambled.

"Well, for the past month now I've had a crush on another boy, so finding out about this Peverell stuff was a bit of a relief. Did you know that one out of every five Peverell men is gay? That's twice as many as with typical men. It makes me feel more normal, plus I want kids someday, and this means I'll be able to have them with another man. Maybe I'm not ready to say I want the pregnant man to be me, but that's something that can wait until after I find the right man and get married. I don't need to figure it all out at once," Harry answered.

"Good, well I'm just gonna go find that book I need for that essay," Ron mumbled, before escaping the awkward situation. He was more than happy to let Hermione field Harry's personal confessions. He would return when everything calmed down and was much simpler.

"So now that Ron is gone, do you want to tell me who it is that you fancy?" Hermione asked.

"Um, not yet," Harry answered.

"You know I won't judge you, right? I mean, now that I know, we can be girlfriends and gossip about which boy has the nicest arse."

"Hermione! Look, no offense, but I'm just not ready for that yet. This is still really new to me."

"But when you're ready, you'll come to me, right Harry?"

"Yeah, of course Hermione. You and Ron are my best friends, and for this, I'll definitely be coming to you first," Harry answered.

"Good. I've been curious, so I went to the library and got another book on Peverell wizards," Hermione said.

"Did you find out anything interesting about Peverells? None of us come out with tails or fur, do we?" Harry asked, trying to divert Hermione from more talk of feelings. He still had the emotional range of a teaspoon.

"No, there wasn't any mention of Peverell wizards being born with more centaur characteristics than normal, but I did find an interesting legend about how they originated. It's been turned into a couple of children's stories, actually."

"Yeah, I heard," Harry replied.

"You did? Who told you?"

"Um…" Harry stalled for time while he tried to figure out who could have told him the stories if not for Draco; not Snape either. "Dumbledore. He told me loads of stuff about Peverells."

"Really, like what?"

"Mostly about Peverell sex. Did you know he's gay?" Harry asked, changing the subject. He didn't mean to spread rumors about the headmaster, but he needed a subject change, badly.

"No, I didn't come across much mention of his personal life, just that he defeated Grindelwald."

"Hmm…do you think there could be a link between Grindelwald and Dumbledore's boyfriend? He told me that he sent his boyfriend to Nurmengard."

"Grindelwald is in Nurmengard…Merlin's pants Harry, you're right, there must be a link."

"Yeah."

"I should go to the library before lunch. I'll see you in the Great Hall," Hermione said, stuffing her homework in her backpack and throwing her bag over her shoulder.

"Okay, see you then," Harry replied, putting his book in his own bag. He was about to pull out some homework, but he noticed Ron hiding in the corner and waved him over.

"No hard feelings then? I mean, I really put my foot in my mouth this time, didn't I?" Ron asked, returning to his earlier seat next to Harry.

"Yeah you did, but no hard feelings."

"So do you really want to be buggered, or were you just saying that because of what I said?"

"I really want to be buggered," Harry confirmed honestly.

"I don't mean to pry, but since when have you been thinking about it? How and why did you decide you wanted that?" Wanting to be buggered was just something Ron couldn't understand and he wanted to, for the sake of his friendship with Harry.

"Well I certainly never thought about it before I realized I was a ponce, but Dumbledore explained the process during our meeting Sunday night and I got to thinking about it, and yeah, I do want it. Can you handle that?"

"Yeah, I can handle it; I'm just trying to understand. But you talked to Dumbledore about sex? That must've been awkward."

"Yeah, a bit. It was more strange than awkward… kind of surreal really. He was explaining what all those potions in that basket he gave me do and they're all for sex. He didn't give me any details, but…"

"But what?" Ron asked curiously.

"But I wrote to Fred and George a few weeks ago, when I first began thinking I might like wizards, and they sent me a book on it. That's been really informative and totally hot," Harry admitted.

"Fred and George, um you know, know about that type of thing?" Ron asked surprised. His twin brothers knew everything, but he hadn't realized that they were familiar with this subject too.

"Well they said they didn't have much background in it. Wait, I still have the note they sent me, you can read it," Harry said digging in his backpack for the note from Fred and George. It was somewhat crinkled, but he flattened it out and handed it over to Ron.

Ron took a minute to read the note, before saying, "They told the shop keeper the book was for me!? I'll kill them."

"But the book was for me, and I really appreciate having it. If I didn't have it, I'd have to get the information out of Dumbledore. Can you imagine that Ron?" Harry asked.

"Eww, no. Okay, so I won't kill my brothers, but I'm still mad at them," Ron replied.

"Yeah, well…oh look! It's almost lunch time and we don't want to be late," Harry said changing the subject. He probably shouldn't have shown Ron the note, but he forgot about that part.

"Yeah, definitely. They're serving treacle tart for dessert today," Ron replied.

Harry and Ron went to lunch, where Hermione, fresh from the library with a new book on Dumbledore's defeat of Grindelwald, joined them. After lunch they went to class and after class, Harry and Ron went to Quidditch practice. Then they met back up with Hermione for dinner, followed by detention for Harry. Draco was there in detention again to help Harry with his occlumency. Harry made progress learning to keep Draco out and Draco was getting faster at getting in in the first place. Over all the lesson went smoothly and there were no great revelations shared between the boys that night. Instead the hour ended and Snape sent Draco along.

"Professor Dumbledore has met with all of the Hogwarts house elves and sworn them to secrecy. Draco should be safe within these walls," Snape told Harry once Draco left. He had already spoken to Draco about this earlier in the day.

"That's great. Thank you sir. Actually sir, there were a few things I wanted to talk to you about," Harry replied.

"Such as?" Snape asked.

"Such as I'd like to go with Draco to visit Grimmauld Place; I'd like to meet his mother and discuss some of the logistics of hiding Draco and the baby. I assume she'll agree to stay with Draco and go into hiding with us."

"That can be arranged, possibly for this Sunday."

"That'd be great."

"And the other thing you wished to talk to me about?"

"I want to marry Draco before the baby is born and I've been led to believe that the process starts with lawyers and marriage contracts. Could you help me with that sir? Finding a lawyer, I mean?" Harry asked. If not, he would have to go to Dumbledore, but the headmaster was a busy man and he didn't want to trouble him.

"Yes, there is a lawyer in Hogsmeade. I could set you up with an appointment, if you were to agree that Draco should stay here, safely tucked away in the castle." Professor Snape didn't want to have a part in encouraging a relationship between these two, but it was already happening and a marriage was in Draco's best interest, because it would make the baby legitimate. He would encourage Draco to divorce Harry latter on, but for now he could set Harry up to meet with a lawyer as long as Draco was safely tucked away in the castle.

"Definitely, Draco should stay here. I don't want to risk his safety and I want my proposal to be a surprise."

"Then am I to take it that he is not at all aware of your intentions?"

"No, I told him, but he told me I had to wait until Lucius gets out of Azkaban. But when I told Dumbledore, he advised me to put the contract and proposal together now and that Draco's mum might be able to get it approved."

"Yes, Lady Narcissa will most likely want the wedding to occur as soon as possible, given Draco's condition."

"And I agree," Harry replied.

"Very well, is that all?"

"Yes."

"Then I have something for you from the headmaster," Snape replied opening his desk drawer and removing three catalogs. "He indicated that he had discussed getting a year's worth of baby supplies owl ordered. Here is a catalog of baby clothes and blankets, another one of baby furniture and toys, and a third for the motherly needs such as larger robes. You are to fill out the order form in the back with everything you want and return the forms to Dumbledore for purchase. The funds will be deducted from your Gringotts account, mind you," Snape said.

"Yes, or course. I want to buy everything for Draco and our baby. Thank you sir," Harry replied, taking the catalogs back to his desk.

Harry flipped through each of the catalogs, without stopping to pick out items, but just to get a sense of how much work this was gonna be. He quickly realized that he was way over his head and didn't know the first thing about babies. He would have to get Draco and his mum to help him, but that would have to wait, because he still had two hours of detention and a pile of homework waiting for him.

* * *

Author's Note: Please review!


	23. Chapter 23

Author's Notes: No censorship was needed in this chapter.

* * *

Thursday dawned bright and sunny, signaling that spring had finally and truly returned to Scotland. Harry was excited about the day, because he would have alone time with Draco again. They had agreed to meet before dinner in the room of requirement every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Wednesday Harry had Quidditch practice and although he loved flying and coaching his team, he missed Draco. There were so many things he wanted to talk to him about, like going to visit his mother on Sunday and the catalogs Snape had given him. Harry would get to talk to him about all those things today, but he just had to get through the rest of his day first.

Breakfast started off as usual, with Harry stowing away an apple for Draco, Ron gobbling up fried potatoes like a hungry troll, and Hermione with her nose in a book. But then Luna came over and said, "Hiya Harry."

"Hi Luna, how are you?" Harry returned the greeting.

"Wonderful. The nargles told me you needed my help Saturday in Hogsmeade," Luna said cheerfully.

"They did?" Harry asked confused.

"Yes, they said you had a very important and very expensive purchase to make."

"They did?" Harry asked, not catching on, but then he remembered he was going to buy Draco an engagement ring in Hogsmeade Saturday. "Oh yes! How did you know?"

"I told you, the nargles told me. Anyway, I'll meet you after breakfast and we'll go," Luna replied airily.

"Oh yes, after breakfast would be great. Thanks for your help!"

"Oh no problem. The nargles told me you'd need a lot more help in the coming months, so don't hesitate to ask me."

"Yeah, sure thing, Luna," Harry replied cheerfully. Maybe Luna meant that she wanted to help him sort through the catalogs.

"I'll see you Harry," Luna replied before drifting off.

"What was that about?" Hermione asked, lifting her nose out of her book.

"Oh nothing really," Harry replied.

Hermione gave Harry a funny look like she didn't believe him, but she buried her nose back in her book all the same.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione went off to class. After class Draco insulted him and took his apple, Ron huffed about it, and they went to the common room for free period. Well Hermione didn't have a free period on Thursdays, but she did get out of ancient runes half an hour early today, so she met up with them in the common room.

"Have you and Ron started on your Charms homework for tomorrow?" Hermione asked, entering the portrait hole and walking over to where Ron and Harry were seated.

"No, we've just been finishing transfigurations," Harry said, pulling out his charms book and one of the catalogs, the one filled with clothes and blankets, fell out of his bag. He tried to shove it back inside, but Hermione saw.

"Harry, why do you have this magazine?" Hermione asked.

"It's personal," Harry replied.

"Um, I'm just gonna go over there," Ron said, taking his cue to leave. He didn't want to get into anymore debates with Harry and Hermione regarding Harry's personal issues.

"We're going to the room of requirement to talk," Hermione replied shoving her stuff, along with Harry's catalog, into her backpack.

"Can't you just drop it?" Harry pleaded.

"Not this time; there's something going on with you and I want to know what and I don't want anyone overhearing. Now come on."

"Fine," Harry replied, putting his charms book and his transfigurations homework back in his bag and following Hermione to the room of requirement.

Harry wasn't thinking about what kind of room he wanted when he walked around in a circle three times, he was too busy planning what to tell Hermione. He walked into the lilac beach room and went to sit down on his usual loveseat without thinking about it, but as he approached the hut, he realized that it was different. The bed was still in the room with the fireplace and there was an additional room on the left side of the hut, closer to the door to the room of requirement than the rest of the hut, taking up space that used to belong to the dining patio. The once large dining patio had shrunk to a more moderate size.

Harry looked more closely at the new room and realized that it connected to the bedroom, completely blocked the bathroom, and even went off into the lilac forest more than the house used to. This new room, much like the rest of the hut, was opened to the outside and delineated only with half-walls, so he could easily see in. Harry saw a sitting room with his loveseat and a larger matching couch, so he opened the new front door and walked in.

The old front door, leading to the bedroom, was off on the right and a hallway, likely leading to a second door to the bathroom, was on the left. There was a coffee table in the middle of the couches, with an end table in between the couches, which were placed at a right angle to each other. There was also a reclining chair at a right angle to the couch, on the other side. There were bookcases half full of books and empty shelves lining the wall that joined to the bathroom and a thick blue rug over a wooden floor. It was a nice sitting room.

Harry sat down on his loveseat, sitting his backpack on the coffee table. Hermione sat down on the couch, facing him, also setting her backpack down on the coffee table.

"What is this place Harry?" Hermione asked.

"This is the room I ask for when I'm practicing occlumency almost every day," Harry replied.

"I didn't know the room of requirement could do beaches, forests, and houses," Hermione replied.

"I didn't either. I think most of this came from his memories and desires," Harry replied.

"The wizard who's been helping you with occlumency, you mean?"

"Yeah."

"The Slytherin that Snape trusts."

"I trust him too."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I know him, okay?"

"Is it Malfoy?" Hermione asked and Harry's jaw dropped. He hadn't been planning on telling her this much.

"What makes you think that?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"You've vouched for Malfoy twice; said he's not up to anything but being worried about his mum. You have these fake fights with him in the hall every morning and give him your apple, which you never seem to want yourself. I see you looking over at him all the time. You're always in detention together and you said your occlumency helper is also in detention with you sometimes. You were together Sunday and that either led to a big fight, or something else that made Snape mad. I'm not dumb Harry."

"Alright, so it is Malfoy."

"Do you think that's wise Harry? His dad's a-"

"A Death Eater, I know," Harry interrupted.

"Not just a Death Eater, but in Voldemort's upper circle. You were worried all year that Malfoy had taken his place and become a Death Eater himself. And now you're, what, friends?"

"Yes, we're friends and I trust him with my life," Harry said. He was actually trusting Draco with more than that; he trusted him with the life of his unborn son.

"But why? Can you just explain why you know his loyalties aren't to Voldemort? What convinced you? I've got your back Harry, you know I do, but I just need to understand," Hermione pleaded.

"Well, there are a number of things. First of all, we have a lot in common, such as worry over Voldemort killing our relatives; we're both trapped right in the middle of this war and neither of us like it. We're both Peverell males and this last week he's explained a lot about that to me, helping me with the information overload. We're both-" Harry wanted to say gay, but he thought better of it. If Hermione knew Draco was gay too, she'd probably know that he was the one he was crushing over. "We're both trapped in this pureblood/halfblood/mudblood nonsense."

"Are you telling me that Malfoy doesn't actually believe the pureblood prejudice that he spreads around? He doesn't think I'm a worthless mudblood?" Hermione asked stunned. If there was one thing she thought she knew about Malfoy, it was that he hated muggle-borns.

"No, he doesn't, not all of it. He has explained to me that there are a few underlying differences that started the prejudice, and he certainly wouldn't bring you home to his mother, but in reality, he doesn't think muggleborns are inferior or don't have a right to learn and practice magic.

"How do you know that that is how he really feels and not just what he told you, to gain your trust?"

"He's dating a halfblood," Harry blurted out, wishing he could take it back and find some other way to convince Hermione. But he had said it, so he went with it. "He's dating a halfblood and he's got her pregnant. That's what the catalog was for: I was trying to find him a gift for the baby, so that he knows he has friends that will support him, even when his father gets out of Azkaban. Plus, he and his mum and his girlfriend plan on going into hiding at the end of the term, so that Voldemort and Lucius can't get to them, and Draco's going to need to have things stowed away for the baby."

"Oh my…I didn't think it would be anything like that…but, if he's even having a baby with her, then he really mustn't care…you know, about blood?"

"Like a said, I don't think he'd bring home a muggleborn, but he doesn't have a problem with halfbloods at all. He loves her and is willing to oppose his father and Voldemort for her and the baby. You should hear him talk about the baby, Hermione. It's always _my_ baby this and _my _baby that; there's no way he could give two rat farts about blood status as far as that baby is concerned."

"Alright, so Malfoy isn't who I thought. And the fighting and name calling?"

"All of it's been an act the entire time, all six years. He knew that his father had eyes and ears in the school and what sort of things he was expected to say and do. He did them in public and in private, he didn't want to."

"I knew the fights you've been having for the last month have been staged, because let's face it Harry, you're a horrible actor, but I never realized that Malfoy was faking for so long; practically his whole life has been faked, to deal with having a Death Eater for a father. I feel so bad for thinking all of the horrible things I've thought about him over the years."

"Well now you know everything," Harry lied.

"Not everything. I don't know what we're gonna get Malfoy for his baby," Hermione replied, taking out the catalog. "What were you thinking of getting?"

"I have _no_ idea, really. I've never even held a baby before. I'm in way over my head."

"My aunts and uncles have a few kids, so I know a bit. Most baby clothes are good and you should just get something cute or something with a pattern that you know Draco likes."

"Well let's look through the catalog then and you can help me figure it out," Harry suggested.

"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" Hermione asked.

"He said a boy. But Hermione, he'll kill me if he finds out I told you. You can't tell this to anyone, not even Ron, and you can't let on to Draco that you know. He said he's only telling people that he's absolutely certain are loyal to him and that know occlumency."

"Yeah, okay, I won't tell. His secret is safe with me," Hermione replied. "And I've been wanting to learn occlumency. Actually, I was thinking of asking Professor Snape for a few lessons."

"You should do that Hermione. I don't think it will be critical to the war, because you'll be with me and if you get caught, Ron and I will be caught too, but even if we died, I'd rather Voldemort not know all our secrets.

"I'll talk to Professor Snape about it then and maybe I could borrow your book to start out with?"

"Yeah sure," Harry replied, digging his occlumency book out of his bag. He wasn't done with it, because he was still at the beginning level, but it'd be a week or more before he needed it again.

"Let's get to work on the catalog," Hermione said, putting the occlumency book in her bag and opening the cover of the catalog.

Hermione found the boy section and the two of them spent ten minutes looking through the catalog and oohing and awing. Hermione quickly explained what each piece of clothing was called and what it was used for, but there were only about a dozen types, so Harry caught on quickly. And then they flipped to a section where everything was in dragon print.

"I think he'd love anything from this section," Hermione said.

"Yeah, I think you're right," Harry replied with a grin. "Those dragon pajamas are adorable; I think I'll get those."

"I have to use the loo, is there one in this beach house?" Hermione asked standing up.

"Yeah, but the house has grown since the last time I was in here. It's in back of this wall, so I think that new hallway on the left will lead to it," Harry replied, not wanting Hermione to go in through the bedroom and see his basket full of potions on the dresser in there. It might be hard to explain why he put his sex potions in a room he shares with Draco. They had left the stretching potion and applicators out right on top of the dresser too.

"Okay," Hermione said and walked through the door on the left, presumably to the bathroom. "Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you seen this room back here?" Hermione asked.

"The bathroom, yeah, I've seen that," Harry replied, getting up and following Hermione through the door on the left.

The door led to a hall with a door to the right, that obviously must be the bathroom, and a door on the left, at the end of the hallway. The door at the end was opened and Harry could see Hermione standing just inside the room. He quickly walked through the hallway to join her and see what new room the hut had added behind the new sitting room. It was a nursery, with several open windows looking out onto the lilac forest. The walls were a pale yellow with blue and white clouds on the ceiling and azure waves panted on one wall, the wall on the right of the door, which was one of the boundaries of the room of requirement. The floor was wood with a large yellow rug.

Everything in the room was done in double, one in a yellow fabric covered with pink and purple plumeria flowers and the other had yellow fabric covered in green and silver turtles and all of in a dark colored wood. To the left of the door, the wall that separated the nursery from the hallway, were two wooden baby swings, one in flowers and the other in turtles. Along the left wall was a wooden changing table with turtles and flowers, followed by a matching wooden rocking chair. To the right of the rocking chair, on the far side of the room, nearest the lilac forest, were two wooden cribs, one with the pink and purple flower pattern and the other covered in the green and silver turtle pattern. After that, in the corner, was a wooden laundry hamper that was flowers and turtles again. On the right side of the room, against the ocean wall, were two dark wooden dressers, one with a stuffed pink sea turtle on top and the other with a green stuffed sea turtle on top. To the right of the door was a closet. In the closet were a folded up twin stroller, half in flowers and half in turtles, and four little seats. Two seats were on the shelf above the clothes hanging bar and the other two were on the floor of the closet and had bars of toys arching overhead. Again, one seat was turtles, with sea creature toys, and the other was flowers, with a flower, a sun, and a rainbow hanging down for toys.

"This wasn't here on Tuesday," Harry said in awe. Had Draco come back here without him, possibly yesterday, and asked for a nursery? Or had the room just decided they required one?

"Draco really seems to like Hawaii, doesn't he?" Hermione asked, indicating the room.

"Um, I didn't know this was all Hawaiian, but I know he likes this island. It's peaceful, relaxing, and safe in here."

"You've been coming here practicing occlumency with him for weeks and you didn't know this was a Hawaiian Island?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

"Well, no, I hadn't thought to ask. He showed me how to snorkel and stuff, but mostly we sit on the couch and practice occlumency."

"I thought you said the sitting room was new?"

"It is. But there used to be a sitting room where there's a bedroom now."

"Alright, but I thought you said he was having one boy, not one of each?"

"He thinks it's a boy, but the spell didn't work right. It was blue, but the letters were blurry. He said their healer would try again next month, but for now, they're going with possibly a boy."

"He didn't really know, so the room made him a nursery set with one of each," Hermione concluded.

"Yeah, but this room will never get used, because Malfoy and his girlfriend aren't coming back here next year and the baby's not due until the fall."

"Well it's a nice room and it gives me some ideas for what type of décor he likes; maybe we should rethink the dragons and go with sea turtles," Hermione suggested.

"Or maybe we should wait on it until we're sure it's a boy, but maybe, since this is all here, you could explain to me what this stuff is."

"Yeah, well you know babies sleep in cribs and the dressers are for the clothes, of course. The rocking chair can be used to feed them or rock them to sleep. The changing table is for changing nappies, mostly, but you could dress a baby on it too. The swings and seats are to entertain the baby, while giving the parent a rest. The stroller is to push them around in, so you don't have to carry them. And the seats with the straps are for the car. Now I really need to use the loo."

"It's the other door off of this hallway for sure," Harry replied, leading Hermione to the other door and opening it. Sure enough it was the far side of the bathroom.

"Thanks," Hermione said, stepping inside.

Harry went back to the sitting room and put the catalog back in his backpack while he waited for Hermione. "Come on, lunch has already started, we should head back," Harry suggested, when Hermione returned.

Hermione and Harry each grabbed their backpacks. "Now remember, not a word to anyone, not even Ron or Malfoy," Harry said as they walked out the door, back into Hogwarts proper.

"Got it, but you really should take me and Ron snorkeling someday. Maybe bring Ginny, Neville, and some of the others along. A Gryffindor trip to the beach sounds good even."

"Hermione, that's _his_ private sanctuary. I think it's where he's been going all year. He goes there with his girlfriend and when he was worried about his mum and now when he's tutoring me, but I don't want to intrude and share it with other people without his permission. I shouldn't even have showed it to you, but I wasn't thinking and it just supplied the usual, I guess," Harry whispered as they walked back down towards the Great Hall.

"Alright, not his beach then, but _a_ beach, now that we know the room can make one. And if it happens to also be a Hawaiian beach, then that just means less work for the room. But I won't mention anything now; it can be something we think about as an end of term celebration," Hermione said as they approached the Great Hall.

Harry agreed and they sat down to lunch at the Gryffindor table next to Ron. After lunch they went to class and then Harry went back to the room of requirement to wait for Draco.

* * *

Author's Note: What do you think of the nursery? How do you think Draco is going to react when he finds out Hermione knows? I haven't gotten many reviews lately and I'd really like to hear from you again.


	24. Chapter 24

Author's Note: A lemon was removed from this chapter.

So there was some speculation last chapter. A few of you were dead on in your predictions and some more of you gave me awesome ideas that I'm gonna go write into a future chapter! But there seems to be one misconception that the room of requirement made two cribs because there will be two babies. The room doesn't know what Draco's having, it just made the nursery, because it was on Harry's mind. And it made two of everything, because of some fluff Harry and Draco will be doing together in future chapters, so that they can each learn how to care for a baby.

* * *

After class Harry went back to the room of requirement to wait for Draco. First he changed his pants, because he was back to his Dudley hand-me-downs after his last pair of room of requirement pants vanished. He would really have to pick up some new pants in Hogsmeade this weekend, so that this would stop happening…and he could pick up some new pants for Draco while he was there.

Once changed, he hid his old pants in his backpack and went back into the nursery, which was just how he and Hermione had left it. He wanted to show Draco this room and everything in it, so he took the two seats with toy bars out of the closet and set them on the floor, in the middle of the room. Then he unfolded the stroller, which was harder than he thought and required a spell, which was thankfully written on the handlebar. He left it unfolded in the open closest, before pulling the carseats down from the shelf, where they had been stored, to the open area on the bottom of the closest, where the toy seats had been.

"Harry? Are you here yet?" Draco called out. Draco knew Harry had to be there already, because the door was already there and waiting for him, the way it was when Harry was already in the room.

"Yeah, I'm here," Harry replied, quickly exiting the nursery, closing the door behind him, and running out of the hut to greet Draco.

Draco was just about to open the new front door to the new sitting room to take a look at the addition, when Harry came out. "Hi there," Draco said as Harry stepped up to him and took him in his arms.

"Hi yourself," Harry replied before initiating a gentle kiss, but he broke it off before it turned into an all-out snogging session.

"What is all this?" Draco asked, referring to the new addition to the hut.

"You didn't make this yesterday or something?" Harry asked, leading Draco into the sitting room.

"No, I wasn't here at all, although you should've been: you're supposed to be stretching your arse every day," Draco replied, setting his backpack down on the coffee table, next to Harry's.

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that. I didn't use the potion yesterday."

"Well you can use it today and remember to do it to yourself if I can't do it for you," Draco replied.

"Yeah, okay. Well if you didn't ask the room for this, then it must've been me," Harry replied, thinking about the catalogs Snape had given him. 'Maybe I had the baby stuff on my mind, so the room gave me a nursery.'

"So now we have a separate sitting room and bedroom. It's nice, but I hope the hut doesn't keep expanding, because I don't want to lose the open dining patio."

"I think it's big enough already, plus, I think the hut's growing more into the lilac forest, than it is into the dining patio. There's another new room, through there, that I want you to see," Harry said taking Draco's hand and leading him to the hallway.

"What is it? A library maybe?" Draco wondered as they walked. He would want a library, but maybe Harry had asked for something stupid, like a Quidditch pitch. Yeah, knowing Harry, it would be a Quidditch pitch.

"No, not a library," Harry replied opening the door to the nursery and stepping inside with Draco.

"Wow, a nursery! What _is_ all this stuff?" Draco wondered.

"Baby stuff. Snape gave me some catalogs to order baby stuff from. I think the room just gave us two of each. Do you like it? Is this how you'd want our nursery to look? Or would you like something else?"

"We can't keep this stuff, can we?" Draco asked in reply. "I mean, will it disappear if we remove it from the room of requirement? The clothes I took from here before all disappeared as soon as they were off my body."

"The clothes I took disappeared too. I don't think we can take these, but I'm gonna order a set from a catalog for our baby. I want him to have the best of everything," Harry replied.

"Brilliant," Draco replied, leaning in for another sweet kiss.

"So is this how you'd want it? This style furniture, this color wood, this pattern fabric, and panting on the walls?" Harry asked.

"Not quite. I think I'd make the fabric more like this," Draco said willing the fabric to change and it did.

Now, instead of yellow, all the fabric was a deep indigo blue. Instead of green and silver sea turtles, they were just silver. And instead of pink and purple plumerias, they were white with gold in the center plumerias. The wood stayed dark, but acquired a bit of a reddish hue, so that it was a dark cherry color. And the style of the furniture changed from plain, clean lines and edges, to a rounded, swirling style, with delicate carvings of sea creatures; Harry could make out fish, whales, dolphins, crabs, and jellyfish.

The paintings on the wall stayed as they were, except a manta ray, a sea turtle, a dolphin, a whale, a shrake, and a few other fish were added to the sea. And on the other walls, the plain yellow ones, sunbathing geckos, sea turtles, and seals were added, while flying birds and bats were added to the ceiling. The rug on the floor turned indigo blue with white and gold plumerias and silver sea turtles. And finally, the toys on the flowery chair in the middle of the room changed to be magical creatures, such as a dragon, a griffin, and an unicorn, instead of flowers and rainbows.

"I love it," Harry said, before kissing Draco deeply. "But I have something to confess that you're not gonna like." Harry had decided that with Draco helping him with occlumency, there was no way to hide anything from him. And since they would be working on occlumency again tomorrow night with Snape in detention, he had better come clean now.

"Let me sit down while you tell me," Draco said, sitting in the rocking chair in the corner. He wanted to test it out, because it reminded him of one back in the Manor that his mother would rock him in and sing to him.

"Well, Hermione's known something was up with us for a few weeks now and she finally confronted me. She accused you of being my occlumency tutor, and I confirmed that you were," Harry revealed.

"Well that doesn't sound too bad, as long as you didn't tell her that we're dating or that I'm pregnant," Draco replied rocking gently; he found it very soothing.

"I didn't tell her that we're dating, but I did tell her that you're dating a halfblood; a female halfblood. She just wouldn't stop asking how I knew you weren't loyal to Voldemort's cause after all the blood purity stuff you've spouted. And I just kinda blurted that out. I'm sorry."

"Well, if she thinks I'm dating a female that isn't you, then that's probably a good ruse to keep going. Subterfuge and all. At least she doesn't know about my baby."

"Well…"

"What did you tell her Potter!?" Draco roared, quickly standing up from the rocking chair to loom over Harry, looking down on him with a look that could kill.

"She found one of my catalogs! I had to tell her something!" Harry defended himself.

"What did you tell her?" Draco repeated, in a deadly tone.

"I told her your girlfriend was pregnant, alright?"

"My girlfriend? Not me?" Draco repeated, calming down slightly.

"Yes, your girlfriend and I made her swear not to tell anyone, not even Ron. And she wants to learn occlumency; she said she'd ask Snape to give her lessons."

"If your friendship with Granger gets me and my baby killed, I'm gonna haunt you and have father hunt you down. I've been thinking, father enjoys his torturing, so he'll probably keep you alive until after he feeds your ballocks to doxies. He's got a small colony of doxies back at the Manor and he was hoping to use them to torture muggles, but I'm sure that can be changed," Draco said sitting back down in his rocking chair and pulling his knees back up to his chest.

Harry noticed that Draco mentioned his father and pulled his knees up to his chest a lot when he's scared or worried, so he went to kneel in front of his boyfriend to speak. "Hermione is a very crafty witch. She'll be with me, in hiding during the war, so Voldemort won't get his hands on her unless he also has me. And I know she'll pick up occlumency right away; she's the smartest quickest witch in our class. You're secret will be safe with her and she doesn't even know the whole truth! She doesn't know that we're together or that that is my baby. She thinks some halfblood witch is carrying your baby, for Merlin's sake."

"Yeah, she doesn't know and she'll learn occlumency," Draco repeated, trying to tell himself that he and the baby would be alright.

"Yes and you and our baby will be tucked away under the fidelius charm. I'm gonna order everything you'll need for an entire year- two years even- from these catalogs. You'll have your mum and Snape and I'll have Hermione and Dumbledore. We'll all keep you and the baby secret and safe. Even if I'm killed and Voldemort wins, you can come out of hiding and say the baby's mum was some pureblooded witch that died fighting the order. You'll flee to the other side of the globe of course, but everyone will think the baby is someone else's and no one will follow you. Just you and your mum and our baby safe in Hawaii."

"Yeah, even if no one I know dies, Pansy will lie for me and say it's her baby. She knows some occlumency and I'll just have to train her up a bit. Blaise will be upset if we don't let him in on the ruse, but he's no Death Eater and he's smart enough to learn occlumency too. I bet they'd help me hide after you die," Draco said lowering his feet back to the ground.

"Brilliant, now come here," Harry said, standing up and holding his arms open for his boyfriend.

Draco stood up and allowed himself to be engulfed by Harry's arms. After several minutes, Harry spoke again, "Do you want to look over those catalogs now?"

"Yeah, let's do it in the sitting room," Draco answered.

Draco and Harry walked back to the sitting room where Harry removed the catalogs from his backpack and showed Draco. "Now I'm not sure what all we will need, but I've got plenty of galleons in my vaults, and I figured we could ask your mum for help. Actually, I'd like to meet her this Sunday and tell her about the baby, if that's alright with you."

"Um, yeah, mother'll help. Maybe we could wait a week to tell her about the baby…I haven't told her we're dating yet…we're definitely not telling her about the rape," Draco replied.

"No, no one has to know about that. I won't tell her," Harry promised.

"Okay, then you'll come with me to see mother on Sunday and we'll tell her that we're dating. We can wait a bit to tell her about the baby, but when we do, we'll ask for her help making sure we have enough of everything. I know we'll need a ton of nappies."

"Yeah, we'll get enough nappies to fill a room."

"We can pick out boy stuff for now and wait a month to order, to make sure he really is a boy," Draco agreed.

"Yeah, seeing the room give us girl stuff too was a bit shocking and made me realize that we can't be absolutely sure until the spell is done right," Harry added. "So, which of these patterns do you like?"

"Well, I like island patterns, obviously. And with my name being Draco and being a Slytherin, I've always had a lot of dragon and snake patterns. And the Black family, my mother's family, they like astrological patterns; constellations, stars, galaxies, and the like. If we have a boy, I want to name him Scorpius," Draco revealed.

"Yeah, Scorpius is a good name. I've always wanted to name my first born James, after my dad," Harry replied. He hadn't considered naming a child Scorpius before, but he didn't hate it and he wasn't about to take this choice away from Draco; not after he raped him and now telling Hermione some of their secrets.

"Scorpius James? I'm not so sure…Malfoy's don't do muggle names. Our baby's blood purity will already be under suspicion; I don't want to go adding to it with a muggle name."

"Oh, what about naming him after my godfather, Sirius? That's a Black name."

"Yeah, Sirius could work, but we don't normally do two astrological names in a row. We don't have to decide now; we can think on it for months," Draco replied.

"Alright then. Why don't you take these catalogs and think over them? Just put a mark on any page with a pattern you like for clothes. And we didn't see an island pattern like the one you wanted in the furniture book, but we could order it special. The only thing I'm still clueless about is this paternity catalog for expectant Peverells," Harry said pulling out the third catalog.

"Well let's have a look, shall we," Draco said and Harry opened the catalog.

The first few sections were simple enough with robes and pants cut roomier and charmed to include extra wizard space for the baby. "The pants will have the wizard-dick-space charm on them too, since they're made for Peverell wizards," Draco said, pointing to a pair of boxers in the similar style to the ones he always wore. The only outward difference was that the boxers in the catalog had a looser waist, to sit below a swollen abdomen.

"Yeah, we can get those. Do you think they'd still fit after the pregnancy?" Harry asked, thinking that maybe he wouldn't need to buy Draco two sets of new pants, one regular and one for the pregnancy, but could just get these specially charmed ones instead.

"Yeah, I think they will. The waist band is loose, but I've been wanting a looser waistband to make it easier to get my hard dick out of my pants," Draco replied.

The next section was more difficult, because it included things for breast feeding, such as pumps to express milk if the parent would be separated from the child for a time. Draco quickly turned to the next section, not wanting to think about breast feeding yet. The next section was worse, because it was things one would need for a home birth, such as sterile blankets and scissors to cut the umbilical cord. Draco quickly closed the catalog and said, "We can worry about the rest of it later…I'll get mother and Professor Snape to figure that stuff out. For now, just order me a dozen robes and pants."

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan," Harry said. "I'll just take this one and you take the other two."

Draco nodded and stuffed the two baby catalogs in his bag, while Harry stuffed the paternity one in his bag.

"So what should we do now?" Draco asked awkwardly.

"Let's go get a snack," Harry replied, remembering how hungry Draco had been Tuesday afternoon.

Draco thought about macadamia nuts and a can appeared on the end table next to him. "Sweet!" he exclaimed picking up the can and opening it, before tossing a handful into his mouth and chewing. "You can get me three lilikoi and two limpids."

"Yes your majesty," Harry replied giving Draco a chaste kiss and licking some of the salty sweetness from Draco's mouth.

Harry went off to get the lilikoi first, which was even easier than it had been last time. He walked back to the dining patio and set the fruit on the table before fetching the broom and shell and again attempting to find some snails. This time Harry spotted a cluster of little mounds rising up from the surface of the rock and realized that they were the limpid shells. He took out his empty shell and used it to pry two limpids from the rocks. It took some muscle and a few minutes of effort, but he finally had his catch, so he returned to the dining patio triumphant, leaving the broom on the beach.

Draco was sitting at the dining table, eating his fruit and nuts and watching Harry. "My hero," he said as Harry handed over the limpids.

Harry sat in the other chair at the table and watched Draco eat. "The food doesn't disappear in your stomach like the clothes do, does it?" Harry asked as Draco finished the last of his snack.

"Not that I know of. I've never pooped, so I don't see it coming out the other end, but I certainly don't feel it disappearing," Draco replied.

"Maybe it only disappears when you're done with it, after it leaves your body," Harry replied.

"Probably, but we should really get to applying your stretching potion before dinner," Draco said. He was a bit horny, not having cum since Tuesday, and he was ready to move their afternoon along.

"Yeah, alright," Harry replied, getting up from the table and taking Draco's hand.

Draco grabbed his empty shells as he left the table and deposited them on one of the empty shelves in the sitting room as they went inside the hut. He followed Harry into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed.

"So I think this time you should take your pants off before you apply the stretching potion to me," Harry said taking his robes off.

"How about you wank me before I do your arse," Draco replied, taking his robes off as well, leaving them both in their pants.

"You get sleepy after you cum, so if we do it that way, I'll have to do my own arse and I'm not entirely sure how to do that," Harry replied.

"So you get to cum first and my dick gets ignored?"

"Well I could wank you while you do my arse, if you'd like," Harry suggested.

"Yeah, I don't know. I don't want my dick out next to your arse."

"It doesn't have to be. We could do it this one way from my book."

"How's that?"

"Let me just grab my book and show you," Harry said before running into the sitting room and retrieving the sex book and running back into the bedroom to show Draco. Harry turned to a page showing a classic sixty-nine oral sex position. "See, your cock would be by my face and I'd wank you and my arse would be over your face and you'd stretch me."

"Then your dick would be right in my face and I'm not putting my mouth on your dick like that. You can just forget that right now Potter."

"No, you don't have to touch my cock, but I do see how it would be in your face. How about I sit my bum on your chest and you stretch me?"

"I'm not sure I understand."

"Well, let's try it with our pants on and see if it works," Harry suggested.

"Yeah, alright. Let me lie down," Draco said scooting further back on the bed and lying down.

"So I'd sit on your chest and wank you," Harry said climbing onto to Draco's chest, facing away from him.

Draco put his hands on Harry's cloth-covered bum and imagined stretching him like this. "I think this'll work."

"Yeah, me too. Strip?" Harry asked getting up. Once he was back on the floor he retrieved a shrunken applicator, unshrunk it, and performed the spell to fill it.

While Harry was getting the potion, Draco removed his pants and lay back down on the bed.

"Okay, so I did the spells to get the potion ready and I can do the other preparing spells, but I don't know how to get this in my own arse," Harry replied, joining Draco on the bed.

*censored

Harry kneeled next to Draco and vanished the mess before lying down next to Draco. He wrapped his arms around Draco and encouraged him to fall asleep by saying, "Sweet dreams my dragon."

He held Draco for fifteen minutes before starting to work on his homework.

* * *

Author's Note: So what do you think of the possible names? What would you name Harry and Draco's son? Please review!


	25. Chapter 25

Author's Note: A lemon was removed from this chapter.

I didn't get any reviews for last chapter from this site, so please still review, even if you go to the other site to read the naughty bits. Anonymous reviews are enabled.

* * *

When dinner time approached, Harry woke Draco up from his nap and sent him off to dinner, while Harry once again left under his invisibility cloak and went to the Gryffindor common room to meet Ron and Hermione. The three of them walked down to the Great Hall together and while they walked Hermione said, "I've good news Harry; I talked to Professor Snape and he's agreed to teach me occlumency every Monday and Thursday evening after dinner. I'll be joining you in detention tonight."

"That's great Hermione!" Harry replied.

"Now you two aren't gonna make me learn occlumency from Snape too, are you?" Ron asked warily.

"It really would be best if you learned. Oh it would be so much fun if I could practice legilimency on you Ronald," Hermione replied.

"No, I don't think that's necessary. It'll mean keeping a few secrets from you, just in case we do get captured, but I think it should all work out without you needing to know everything," Harry replied.

"Sorry Hermione, but I think I'm going with Harry on this one. The last thing I need is another class with Snape," Ron said sitting down at the Gryffindor table next to Seamus, Dean, and Neville on one side and Ginny and her fifth year friends on the other.

Harry and Hermione sat down too and joined the conversation, which seemed to revolve around the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend.

"I need to pick up some more parchment and quills," Hermione said.

"I'd fancy a stop at Honeyduke's meself," Ron replied. "What about you Harry?"

Harry didn't want to tell him about the ring shopping with Luna, so instead he went with, "I need new pants," hoping that undergarments were not a catchy subject and that no one at the table would offer to go pants shopping with him.

"Well we could go to all three before lunch at the three broomsticks," Hermione replied.

"Really Hermione, I'd rather not have a girl along when I'm trying to buy pants. How about I just meet you at the Three Broomsticks?" Harry countered.

"Yeah, no offense mate, but I don't fancy watching you try on pants either," Ron replied.

"But Harry, it's too dangerous. We should stick together," Hermione replied.

"I have my cloak and I promise to wear it whenever I'm not in a store. Besides, I can't go to the candy shop or the school supply shop with either of you, because I already promised to go to some shop with Luna."

"When did this happen?" Hermione asked accusingly.

"This morning at Breakfast. She asked me and we didn't have any plans arranged," Harry replied.

"What are you gonna buy with Luna?" Ron asked with a mixture of surprise and bemusement, like this was about to be a good laugh.

"I've no idea. She said the nargles said and I had to go. She's been a good friend so I agreed," Harry lied; the nargles part was true though.

"Ginny, do you know what Luna plans to do with Harry in Hogsmeade on Saturday?" Hermione asked.

"No idea, but she mentioned a possible pet-project that she wanted to work on that would be coming up in the near future. She said something about nargles," Ginny replied.

"Do you think she could be up to something?" Hermione wondered suspiciously.

"Hermione, it's Luna, Luna Lovegood, we're talking about. She doesn't have a malevolent bone in her body," Harry replied. "I trust her."

"I do too. She may be a little…" Ron said, rolling his eyes. "But she's on our side and trust worthy."

"Oh alright. You're not going pants shopping with her though, are you?" Hermione asked.

"No, but if you'd like, I could ask her to walk me to the pants shop," Harry replied.

"That's not necessary, you can defend yourself," Ron replied.

"Yeah, that should be good," Hermione replied.

"Okay, so it's settled: I'll meet you two at the Three BroomSticks after I buy my pants and help Luna," Harry concluded, leaving out that he also hoped to meet with a lawyer about the marriage contract. He would have to ask Snape about that tonight after Hermione finishes her occlumency lesson.

The friends finished dinner together and then Harry and Hermione went to detention. Hermione practiced occlumency with Snape, while Harry did homework and read. Harry was engrossed in his reading for defense against the dark arts, so he barely even noticed the time fly through Hermione's lesson. He did, however, take the chance to talk to Snape privately the moment Hermione left.

"Sir, have you managed to set me an appointment to meet with a lawyer Saturday?" Harry asked.

"Yes Mr. Potter, you are to meet with a Mr. Cepheus Binns at two o'clock; do not be late. He's a very distance relative of Mr. Malfoy and a closer relative of Professor Binns. He knows pureblood marriage laws, but he's no Death Eater. You will be safe in his hands, but I would advise you not to dawdle outside the safety of the castle," Snape replied.

"Thank you sir," Harry replied, biting back his retort about not knowing Snape cared. Snape probably only cared because of Harry's role in the upcoming war.

"Is that all Mr. Potter?"

"I also have one order form filled out. It's not everything we'll need from the catalog; just the clothes Draco will need. Draco said he didn't know what to do with the rest of that catalog, except to ask you and his mum," Harry said pulling the paternity catalog out of his backpack and showing it to Snape.

"I can certainly fill out all of the items I will need for the birth and give this form back to Professor Dumbledore. We can put in a second order when Draco and Lady Narcissa have had a chance to discuss such matters," Snape replied, taking the form.

"Draco and I talked about the baby stuff too. We're figuring out the list now, but we want to wait until we're a hundred percent certain it's a boy to send in the order. You'll repeat the test in a month and know for sure by then, right?" Harry asked.

"There are no guarantees in life Mr. Potter, but waiting a month is reasonable. There are a number of unisex items that can be used for either a boy or a girl from which you could choose if the sex cannot be determined."

"Thanks, I'll look into that," Harry replied.

After that, Harry returned to doing his homework and with all the uninterrupted homework time he was getting with these detentions, he really didn't think he would have much left to do during the weekend. Sure he still had detention all weekend, but that would probably be enough. Maybe just one trip to the library with Hermione would cover it.

The detention passed silently and quickly and Harry was happy with his progress when he went to bed that night. The next morning was Friday morning and there was an air of eager anticipation at the breakfast table as Hogsmeade plans were finalized and discussed. While he listened to the idle chatter, Harry had an idea and put two apples in his backpack. He filed off to his morning transfigurations class with his friends and afterwards, in the hallway when Hermione was still in the classroom talking to Professor McGonagall about her latest exam score, he pulled out the first apple. Draco didn't even say anything this morning, just held out his hand for the apple. Harry complied and when Draco was out of sight enjoying his stolen fruit, Harry pulled out the second apple and took a bite.

"Wicked! Malfoy just took off and didn't even know you had that second one!" Ron exclaimed laughing, having watched the entire scene.

'Okay, so I'm at least a good enough actor to fool Ron,' Harry thought to himself as he enjoyed the apple. "Yeah, I just figured that if I wanted to actually eat an apple, I'd have to bring two."

"You know what you should do mate?" Ron asked.

"No, what?"

"Mess with the apple you give Malfoy. Maybe not poison, but you could give him one with worms in it," Ron suggested eagerly. "Neville could get some from the greenhouse."

"No, that's too much work. Come on, let's get to class," Harry said as Hermione finally came out of the classroom.

The rest of his classes passed in much the same way and then Harry's favorite part of the day came and he went to the room of requirement to meet Draco.

The first thing Harry did when he entered the room was to put his backpack down and the second was to change his pants. He was still in the bathroom when Draco arrived and called out, "Harry? Are you in here?"

"Yeah, I'm coming," Harry replied, walking through the hut towards Draco as Draco walked through the dining patio and met him in the sitting room. Draco set his backpack down before Harry pulled Draco into a hug and initiated an intense snogging session. They broke apart ten minutes later.

"Whoa, that was a nice greeting," Draco said when he got his breath back.

"Yeah, well I missed you," Harry replied. "So, what do you want to do today?"

"Eat, snog, wank; you know, the usual," Draco replied, but he was looking out at the water while he said it.

"You want to go for a swim or a snorkel or any other of a large list of water-based activities?" Harry asked. He too missed the warm inviting water.

"Yeah. Have you ever been spear fishing Harry?"

"Ah, no…" Harry replied.

"Well then I'll just have to teach you. The best sushi is caught fresh."

"Do you have your swimming trunks? Mine are in the dresser."

"I left my favorite pair here in that dresser too; I haven't had many other excuses to wear them, since the other Slytherins don't appreciate me walking around the common room in them."

"They either don't know what they're missing or they're jealous," Harry replied, leading Draco into the bedroom and pulling open the drawer where the swimming trunks were kept.

"Probably a combination of the two," Draco replied grabbing his trunks from the drawer. "I'll take the bathroom, you can use the bedroom, and we'll meet back in the sitting room?"

"Yeah sounds good," Harry replied, grabbing his own trunks.

Harry changed as soon as Draco had the bathroom door shut behind him and then headed towards the sitting room. He waited in the sitting room for a minute, before deciding he wanted another look at the nursery. He walked through the hallway and into the room, hearing Draco making changing noises from within the bathroom. The nursery was as they had left it and Harry sat down on the rocking chair.

No sooner had Harry sat down than he heard the bathroom door open. "Draco, I'm in the nursery," Harry called.

Draco came in wearing nothing but his swimming trunks. He walked over to the rocking chair and sat in Harry's lap. Harry's arms wrapped Draco and they rocked slowly back and forth.

"I'm glad you're having my baby Draco. With all the shite going on in the outside world, it's nice to have something wonderful like this to think about and look forward to. Thank you and always remember that I love you and our baby, no matter what happens," Harry said genuinely. He wanted Draco to know how he felt, not just that he wanted the baby.

"You should be grateful that it's me having your baby, because well, it's me. I have superb breeding and wonderful genes," Draco replied arrogantly, but he snuggled into Harry's lap and tucked his head into the crook of Harry's neck.

"Oh believe me, I am. You've wonderful genes; miraculous, gigantic, humongous, exceptionally large, glorious genes. I hope to continue to be lucky enough to enjoy those genes," Harry replied, referring to Draco's cock.

"Not so fast Potter; first you have to feed me, _before_ you can partake of my genes," Draco teased getting up from the rocking chair.

"Of course. Let's go find some spears," Harry replied, taking Draco's hand and letting Draco lead him out onto the beach.

Lying on the sand were beach towels, spears, longboards, paddles, snorkel gear, and a bucket. "So we paddle out to where we see some good fish, then we get in the water with the snorkels and spears, aim, throw, and repeat. When we catch a fish, we put it in the bucket. Think you can handle that?" Draco asked.

"Well if I can survive the killing curse, twice, then I think I can at least try spear fishing. You never know when the next avada kedavra will take, after all," Harry joked. He had never even been fishing before, but if Draco could do it, then he could do it too.

"You better not go putting yourself in front of them to find out. If you make this baby an orphan, I'll find some way of torturing your spirit," Draco warned.

"Yes your majesty," Harry replied. He was beginning to think that the only future Draco would approve of involved Voldemort dead, but Draco, Harry, and their baby alive.

"Good, now if you really can't do it, you can always pull out your wand, but I was barely eleven the last time I went spear fishing, so I did it the muggle way," Draco replied getting his gear ready by piling it on his longboard.

Harry copied Draco with his own gear and longboard. "So how do we get on this thing?" Harry asked as he put the last item on.

"We walk out a bit, climb on, and stand up. Then we use the paddle to propel us like any other boat. It's really not that hard," Draco replied and then started to pull his longboard to the water.

"Wait, let me get that," Harry said hastily, not wanting Draco to pull something and possibly hurt the baby.

"By all means Harry, go ahead," Draco said with a smirk. He approved of Harry waiting on him and treating him the way he deserved. He was pregnant with Harry's baby after all, so the least he could do was let Harry do everything for him, even if the longboard wasn't very heavy.

"Thanks," Harry replied, pulling Draco's longboard into the water, before pulling his own.

"So just climb on," Draco said climbing onto his board easily and standing up.

"Alright, here it goes," Harry replied climbing onto his board. He tried to stand, but he lost his balance and slipped off once, before he climbed on again and stood up triumphantly.

"Well done," Draco replied with a smirk. "Now we'll just paddle out a bit."

Draco had his paddle in hand and was paddling on one side and then the other. Harry copied him, but it was harder than it looked and required a lot of arm strength. "Draco, if you get tired or anything, we can always stop," Harry said, worried about the exertion Draco was going through.

"Oh no, you're not getting out of this that easily. If I get tired, I'll just climb on your longboard and let you paddle for both of us," Draco replied, paddling full steam ahead like it was nothing.

'Maybe it is nothing to him, if he's done this loads of times before,' Harry thought as he paddled. After a minute, Harry got into a rhythm with the paddling and began to think it wasn't so bad after all.

"Alright, I see loads of fish down here," Draco said stopping and sitting down. Harry stopped a few feet behind Draco and mimicked him. "Just be careful not to drop anything, like your paddle, in the water, or you'll have to go in after it."

"Alright, don't drop the paddle," Harry said watching Draco put his snorkel gear on. Harry took the cue and put his snorkel gear on too.

"Now take your spear and get in the water," Draco instructed, grabbing his own spear and slipping off his board, into the ocean.

"Draco, do you think this is safe for the baby? I mean maybe I could spear the fish and you could eat them?" Harry suggested, suddenly worried about all of the ways Draco could hurt himself lunging after fish.

"Well, I thought it would be fine, but if you want to do all the work while I supervise, then alright," Draco replied. Harry was being overly cautious, but Draco liked feeling taken care of, so he felt like encouraging Harry today. Of course that would end the moment Harry suggested that it wasn't safe for Draco to do something he really wanted to do, but Harry hadn't tried that yet.

"Brilliant. You'll make a brilliant supervisor," Harry replied, slipping off his longboard and joining Draco in the water.

"Harry?"

"Yeah Draco?"

"Don't forget your spear."

"Right, my spear. I'll need that," Harry replied, reaching back up to the board to grab his spear.

"Now just find one of the tasty ones, aim, and throw," Draco instructed.

"Which ones are tasty?"

"I like those big silver ones," Draco said, pointing to a few larger silver fish. He couldn't quite remember the name, except for that it contained a lot of vowel sounds.

"Right, here I go," Harry replied, swimming closer to the fish.

Draco watched in amusement as Harry aimed and threw his spear. Harry missed and the fish went swimming away as fast as they could. Harry swam after them and tried again and again he missed. There were a dozen more missed attempts and then one of the tasty fish swam right into Draco's reach. Draco aimed, threw, and stabbed the fish through the abdomen. The fish was large and put up a fight, so Draco let go of his spear and surfaced near his longboard. "Harry, be a dear and get that one for me," Draco requested.

Harry hadn't noticed Draco's movement, but he did notice when the red clouds spread through the water. With the red cloud in the way, Harry couldn't see Draco anymore, so he rose to the surface, just in time to see Draco breakthrough the water and to hear Draco's subsequent request. Harry wasted no time and took off swimming after the bloody fish and Draco's spear. Harry caught the fish up and pulled it by the spear back to the longboards.

'How in the world did Draco spear one of these things when he wasn't even trying? I couldn't get one, despite repeated attempts.' Harry wondered as he swam.

Draco was already sitting on his longboard, paddle in hand, waiting for Harry's return. "Ah good, you've found it," Draco said seeing Harry return with the fish and spear. "It's too big for the bucket and looks a bit dead, so just put it straight onto your board."

"Yeah, it wasn't putting up much of a fight anymore by the time I reached it," Harry said putting his own spear back on his longboard and then trying to lift the fish onto the board as well, but the fish was heavy and the board kept moving. "How do I get this thing up?"

"You could use your wand," Draco replied. He could help Harry, but watching Harry struggle was more fun.

"Yeah, alright," Harry replied, retrieving his wand from his leg holster before casting a wingardium leviosa on the fish. The fish flopped up onto the longboard. He quickly followed, but he accidentally knocked his paddle off the board and he had to go back into the water to fetch it. Luckily the paddle floated, so a minute later he was back on board the longboard, with his paddle in hand this time.

Since Harry was finally on his board with the fish, Draco stood up and started paddling back. "Now let's get back and make some sushi," Draco said.

Harry followed Draco and quickly realized that it was even harder to paddle when his board was weighted down with the large fish, but he didn't complain and kept paddling. It only took five minutes to get back and then Draco was slipping off his board back into the ocean and swimming to shore. Harry did the same, but pulled his board and the fish all the way in, before going back for Draco's longboard and taking all the snorkel gear off.

By the time Harry was done pulling the longboards onto the beach properly, Draco had cast a levitating spell of his own and moved the fish onto the beach. Then Draco cast several spells to clean, scale, and slice the fish up into sushi-sized chunks. A plate appeared on the dining table when he willed it, which Draco grabbed and quickly filled with raw fish.

"Wow, that looks amazing," Harry said coming over to the dining table to see Draco's handiwork.

"Yeah, now it just needs something to go with it," Draco replied, thinking about rice. Two plates, each with a scoop of rice and a brown sauce, appeared on the table. "Perfect. Eat up." Draco transferred half of the raw fish to his own plate and began eating.

Harry had never had sushi before, but after all that paddling, he was hungry. He put some of the fish onto his plate and took a bite with rice. It was really good. He was thoroughly enjoying himself before he remembered that pregnant muggles weren't supposed to eat fish, because of metal poisoning. "Draco, this is really good, but is it safe to eat fish when you're pregnant?"

"Yeah, I don't see why not and Professor Snape certainly didn't tell me not to."

"Well muggles don't eat fish when they're pregnant, because of a risk of heavy metal poisoning."

"That's only in polluted water. Do you think that this ocean has been polluted by muggles? It didn't even exist two months ago and is confined within a castle, for Merlin's sake."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Harry replied, eating his last bite of sushi. Draco too, was done with his plate of sushi, but there was still some more on the serving platter and a lot more fish left on the beach. "Are you good or do you want seconds?"

"I want something else; something fruity."

"Lilikoi? I'll go get a couple," Harry offered.

"No, not today. How about some guava? Just go into the lilac forest and require that the room give you a guava tree," Draco replied.

"Why don't you go with me?" Harry suggested.

"No, I want to take a bath. You may be fine with a few cleaning charms, but I prefer real water."

"Okay. What do guavas look like then?"

"Some are pink on the inside, with green skin and others are white on the inside, with yellow skin. They come from trees. Here, I'll imagine the trees for you," Draco said and suddenly there were several medium height trees added to the lilac forest.

"Brilliant. Enjoy your bath," Harry replied, giving Draco a quick peck on the lips and then taking off towards one of the new trees.

The new trees held green globes that were just above Harry's reach. He summoned Draco's broom and flew up to pick an armful, before flying back to the dining patio, where he set down the fruit. Draco was still in the bath, so Harry decided to cast a number of cleaning and drying spells on himself, before changing into his pants and pajama bottoms. They had already used up most of their time together for the day and they had yet to use the stretching potion. Since Draco was still in the bath, Harry prepared the applicator with the stretching potion.

Just as Harry was setting the filled applicator down on the dresser, Draco opened the bathroom door a few inches and popped his head through. "Harry, would you mind finding me some pajamas to wear?" Draco asked, thinking that it was just about wanking time, so he didn't want to put his school robes back on.

"Why don't you wear nothing but the towel. I was thinking we could wank now," Harry said walking the few steps to the bathroom door with a mischievous grin.

"What about my guava?"

"I'll go get it and you can eat it in bed."

"Okay, let me get a towel then," Draco replied closing the door and wrapping one of the big white fluffy towels that were hung on a rack on the second door, around himself before reopening the door.

Harry was on Draco as soon as the door was opening again and snogging Draco senseless. It was hot and wet and tingling as Draco's lips moved sensually underneath Harry's lips and Harry's tongue explored Draco's mouth. While they kissed, Harry slowly led their bodies over to the bed, where he pulled Draco's towel away and threw it on the bed. Harry had expected Draco to be naked underneath the towel, but Draco had his pants on instead, so Harry quickly pulled Draco's throbbing cock out of those pants, before pushing said pants down Draco's legs.

Harry's hands where on Draco's body and his lips were on Draco's lips, his tongue was in Draco's mouth, and Draco had trouble thinking straight. All Draco's blood was rushing to his dick as his heart pounded in his chest and his breathing came out in excited pants, as usual for being kissed by Harry. When Harry's mouth abandoned Draco's and moved on to Draco's chin, Draco tilted his head to breathe and noticed that his pants were gone. Harry's mouth was now on his neck, kissing and sucking, when Draco decided that turnabout was far play and pushed Harry's pajamas and pants down, at the same time.

Harry stepped out of his clothes, leaving him and Draco naked, cock to throbbing hard cock, for the first time. Draco's head tilted down slightly and his forehead came to rest on Harry's forehead. They were already so close to each other that their cocks could have been touching, but as they were, they weren't touching. Harry's body was slightly to the side of Draco's, so that Harry's cock touched Draco's thigh and Draco's cock touched Harry's stomach.

"Is cock touching alright, yet?" Harry asked, not sure how far Draco was willing to take this. He didn't even know if Draco had thought about what he'd done or just did it.

Draco thought about it, but there was very little oxygen reaching his brain and he couldn't figure out the question, much less the answer. Instead he pushed his pulsing dick into Harry's stomach and let out an incoherent groan.

Not having got an intelligible answer and still needing his arse stretched, Harry decided to back off. He pushed Draco back on the bed and said, "Lie down, I'll be there in a second.

Draco tried to follow Harry back up, to keep the contact, but Harry pushed Draco's chest back down and said, "Stay." Thus Draco sat panting on the edge of the bed, trying to form a coherent thought as some of the blood flow to his brain returned, delivering the much needed oxygen.

Harry found the guava on the dresser and tossed it to Draco, who bit into it and started eating. Harry then grabbed the filled applicator from the dresser, lied down on the bed, and cast his three preparing spells. Then he looked up at Draco and said, "Come here."

This time Draco understood and lay down against Harry's side, snuggling in and pressing his still hard dick against Harry's thigh, while chewing his last bite of fruit. Draco was about to start humping Harry's thigh when Harry said, "Wait, I want to talk to you about this first."

Draco stopped and sat back up, next to Harry, so that he would be able to think enough to hold a conversation. Harry sat up too, so that he was equal with Draco.

"Yeah?" Draco asked when he felt his head clearing.

"I want to know how much you're okay with. Our cocks were almost touching; do you want that to happen or do I need to try to keep them apart?" Harry asked.

Draco thought about it for a minute before replying, "I haven't really thought about it, but it seems fine."

"What about everything else that we've done so far. Is it all good?"

Draco thought back to everything they had done so far and was about to reply in the affirmative, when he realize he didn't know what one of those feelings was. "Yesterday there was something warm and wet on my dick towards the end. I don't know what that was," Draco finally answered.

"That was my mouth," Harry answered calmly, waiting for an outburst from Draco, but none came.

"I liked it," Draco answered shyly.

"Then I can use my mouth again?" Harry asked with a wide grin. When Draco nodded, Harry took Draco into his arms and gave Draco a short kiss. "Do you want to do the same position as yesterday?"

"Yeah," Draco answered.

Harry laid Draco down on the bed, before climbing on top of Draco's chest, like he had the day before.

"Here's the applicator," Harry said, passing the full applicator back to Draco. Harry tried not to get Draco too excited too soon, because Draco needed some of his facilities to do the stretching.

*censored

When it was over, Draco lay down next to Harry and snuggled into Harry's side, lying his head on Harry's chest and closed his eyes.

Harry held Draco for fifteen minutes before it was dinner time. Harry didn't want to wake Draco, but they had to get going, so he did. They got dressed and left the room of requirement separately. As always, Harry found Ron and Hermione and went down to dinner as a group, before rushing off to detention; his last detention with Draco.

By now, they knew the drill and went right to work on practicing their occlumency and legilimency. Harry put up his apple shield, but Draco was increasingly able to tear though it. Harry was improving at occlumency, but it was like every little step up he had to claw his way to, dragging his body behind him. Draco, on the other hand, was a natural at legilimency. Sure he struggled the first few days, but legilimency is hard and once he got it he had it.

It wasn't long before Draco was pulling out Harry's memory of talking to Lovegood at breakfast. Draco watched the memory in horror, reading more into it than was really said, wondering what Harry had told the loony girl. Finally, when he had seen the entire conversation many times through, he broke the connection, stood up, and glowered at Harry.

"You son of a muggle, what part of tell no one do you not understand!?" Draco yelled out, drawing Professor Snape's attention. "I've told no one, not even mother yet, and every time I turn around you've told someone new! Why don't you just save us the trouble and send the Dark Lord an owl announcing my pregnancy with your child. Just drop us off on his doorstep and be rid of us."

"I didn't tell her _anything_. All that was said between us was said right there at breakfast. There was no other secret conversation where I told her what was going on," Harry defended himself.

"Like I'm gonna believe that! She _knew_, Potter, she knew," Draco insisted.

"Would either of you care to enlighten me regarding just how Mr. Potter has doomed us all this time?" Professor Snape asked, now standing between the two boys to ensure that this didn't turn into a physical confrontation.

"Potter told the Lovegood girl about me and the baby," Draco answered.

"I didn't tell her anything. Not a baby, not a boyfriend, not a relationship of any kind with you. She said the nargles told her to come over and offer her help to me and I took the chance to have a friend to go shopping with tomorrow," Harry insisted.

"Just what is so important that you're gonna risk our lives to buy? You have three catalogs with everything you could possibly need. Why can't you just buy something from them instead of putting me at risk, again?" Draco accused.

Harry had been trying his hardest to block Draco from seeing his intended proposal and he let out a sigh of relief at realizing that Draco hadn't gotten that little piece.

"Well Mr. Potter? We're waiting," Snape replied. He was thinking it might be something related to Harry's intention to wed Draco, but he didn't know what the boy could possibly get to that end in Hogsmeade.

"I wanted to get Draco a piece of jewelry. I'm not even going to mention who it's for, besides a man. No Draco, no baby, no explanation needed with Luna. She just accepts things without needing to know," Harry answered.

"That seems reasonable. Mr. Malfoy?" Snape asked, wanting to settle this.

"I don't believe that someone wouldn't demand an explanation. I think she probably overheard Potter and Ganger discussing me or my baby. She already knows; that's why she came up to you like that. And you fell right into her hands by confirming her suspicions," Draco accused.

"Luna is just like that. She doesn't need to overhear anything but her imaginary nargles to act. I think she's clairvoyant, if anything. No explanations are needed with Luna, because she is unexplainable herself," Harry said.

"From my dealings with Ms. Lovegood, I would have to agree with Mr. Potter. She is a harmless clairvoyant. Her instincts tell her the right thing to do, without her knowing or understanding why. She is not the least bit logical and doesn't seek out rational explanations. But be that as it may, I would still advise you both to limit what you say to her. She is no Death Eater, but her father does publish his wonky magazine; anything you say to her could end up on the cover," Professor Snape warned.

"Okay, I'll be careful and watch what I say," Harry acquiesced.

Draco's fears weren't alleviated, but with two against one, he had to back down. "Fine, I'm going. I'll see you tomorrow Potter," Draco said before grabbing his bag and turning to leave. He was still mad and he wanted to be alone.

"Alright, see you tomorrow," Harry replied.

* * *

Author's Note: So today is my thirtieth birthday! To help me celebrate, please leave me a review; all I want for my birthday are lots of reviews :)

Next chapter is the Hogsmeade weekend! What should happen? What should Harry tell his friends he was doing with Luna?


	26. Chapter 26

Author's Note: There was another lemon removed from this one.

* * *

Being a Hogsmeade weekend, Harry and Ron were up bright and early, excited for a day out of the castle. Harry went down to breakfast with Ron and Hermione, but when they finished, Ron and Hermione went off without him while Harry waited for Luna. Luna had trouble finding her shoes this morning, possibly due to nargle involvement, so she was late getting down to breakfast.

"Oh hello Harry," Luna said approaching the Gryffindor table when she was finally finished eating.

Harry had been reading his charms book to pass the time, but quickly tucked it away and said, "Hey, let's go. Luna, I want to thank you for going with me today."

"Oh it's no problem really. I'm glad I can help out," Luna replied looking down at her necklace, which appeared to be made out of white string and bits of painted something.

"Come on then, let's start walking," Harry said encouraging Luna to skip along beside him as they walked to Hogsmeade. "Luna, can I ask you to keep this trip a secret between us? I don't want anyone else to know what I'm buying."

"Oh yes, I wouldn't dream of telling. It's the gulping plimpies you ought to watch out for: they're horrible gossips, mind you," Luna replied.

Satisfied with Luna's response, Harry tried to make small talk to pass the time. "That's a nice necklace you've got."

"It's dental floss and fingernails to keep the dabberblimps away," Luna replied airily, skipping along.

Not knowing what to say to that, Harry decided to keep quiet for a while.

"Wotcher Harry!" Tonks greeted as Harry and Luna approached the front gate.

"Hi Tonks, what are you doing here?" Harry asked.

"I'm here to escort you today," Tonks replied.

"An escort for Hogsmeade, is it really that bad?" Harry asked.

"I'm afraid so. And I'm to transfigure your face, so that no one recognizes you," Tonks said and Harry cringed.

Harry agreed and Tonks transfigured Harry's hair to lie flat and made it brown, instead of black. She gave him blue eyes, covered his scar, and changed his nose. With that settled, they set off into the village.

"Where's our first stop?" Tonks asked.

"The Jewelry store, but you have to swear to tell no one," Harry answered.

"Why the hush-hush?" Tonks asked.

"It's a surprise for someone," Harry said.

"Oh, I get it; we're shopping for a witch you fancy," Tonks replied.

"A wizard actually," Luna replied.

"Um, yeah Tonks, I sort of fancy wizards," Harry replied.

"Well good for you. I'm sure he's a nice young bloke," Tonks replied cheerfully as they continued to walk.

"Thanks Tonks, that means a lot to me," Harry replied sincerely.

"Anytime mate," Tonks said.

"What's going on with the Order?" Harry asked.

There wasn't much Tonks could tell Harry about Order business, but Harry listened to what little she could say as they walked the rest of the way to the jeweler. Harry and Luna went inside, while Tonks stood watch outside. It was still fairly early and the shop was empty. There was one glass counter filled with metal jewelry with a middle aged wizard standing behind it.

"Hello young lady and gentleman, can I help you with anything?" the man behind the counter asked.

"Sir, I'm looking for an engagement ring," Harry answered, stepping closer to the counter.

"We have several fashions in stock or we could make something special for your young lady here," the wizard replied, clearly thinking Luna and Harry were an item.

"Oh, it's not for me," Luna replied.

"It's for my, er, boyfriend. I need a man's ring," Harry added.

"Oh right, sorry, my mistake. We also have a few male wedding rings. The men don't normally do engagement rings, except for the purebloods, but we could make something special if none of these will do," the man said pulling out a small piece of black foam with half a dozen rings it in. There were silver-toned and gold-toned bands; some were plain, while others had diamonds or various other stones set into them.

"What do you think Luna? What would he like?" Harry asked, picking up a plain gold band in one hand and a jeweled silver band in the other.

"He has expensive tastes. What metals are the rings made out of?" Luna asked.

"Gold and platinum mostly, but this one here is titanium." He pointed to one ring. "This one here is platinum with grey and white diamonds; it's the most expensive," the man said indicating another ring; this one a silver colored band with three stones set in it: one grey stone in the middle and one white stone on either side of it. "It's got plenty of room to include an engraving on the back. And I can transfigure it to fit a family crest on the side."

"It's lovely," Harry replied. It was expensive and pretty, but still looked masculine, and those things were important, but would it look the best on Draco? Could Harry see Draco wearing this ring?

"If we bought it now and decided to add a family crest or an engraving later, can we do that too?" Luna asked.

"Yes, of course."

Harry decided to buy the ring and paid for it by writing up an order for a Gringotts transfer of funds, which was the wizard equivalent of writing a check. The shop keeper put the ring into a square black box and then the box into a small silver bag with the store's name. Harry thanked the man and slipped the bag with the ring into his pocket, before he and Luna exited the store.

Luna and Harry parted ways and Harry continued on to the clothing store with just Tonks. Tonks waited outside again, guarding the door and Harry walked inside. He was greeted by a young woman who helped him select a dozen pair of plain low-cut boxer briefs and two pairs of patterned low-cut briefs.

And because he was at a clothing store and didn't like to go to clothing stores often, he decided to get a few more things. He was only going to buy two or three outfits, which would be just enough to dress up for Draco on the weekends, but then he thought better of it, because he didn't want Draco to notice that he wore the same exact thing every weekend. Plus, if he was going into hiding for Merlin knows how long, he didn't know when he would have this chance again. Therefore Harry bought plain white socks, plain muggle t-shirts (imported from muggle retailers), a pair of swimming trunks, trousers, a raincoat, and a thick winter cloak.

It was a lot of shopping and Harry didn't have much patience for it, so once he found one of something that would work, he got the rest exactly the same, except for the trousers, which were exactly the same but different colors. It was more clothes than he could carry easily, so he had the sale's witch shrink his items to fit neatly into one large bag.

Once his tab was settled, Harry exited the store and Tonks was waiting outside, right where he left her. "Where to next, Harry?" Tonks asked.

"I've an appointment with a Mr. Binns. He's a lawyer," Harry answered.

"You're not in trouble Harry, are you?" Tonks asked curiously.

"No, but with the price out on my head, I'd like to make a will," Harry replied. It was a half-truth, because he was going to ask Mr. Binns to help with a will that would leave all of his assets to Draco and their baby.

Tonks nodded and they walked in silence. They were walking away from the town center and into a small strip on offices. "Here it is," Tonks announced, pointing to the sign advertising the services of Mr. Binns.

"Are you gonna wait out here?" Harry asked.

"Yep, I'll just be making sure no Death Eaters show up and ambush you, as usual. You know the drill right? Use your cloak and run if there's a commotion?" Tonks asked.

"Yeah, I know. The chosen one has to live long enough to be slaughtered by the right crazy nut job," Harry replied with a smirk.

"Right," Tonks replied cheerfully.

"This one might take a while," Harry told Tonks before going in.

Harry was five minutes early, so he waited in a small lobby until Mr. Binns opened the door to his office and called him in. Mr. Binns was a portly balding wizard with an easy smile that made Harry feel at home. "Close the door behind you," Mr. Binns instructed, before introducing himself.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Harry," Harry replied.

"You don't look much like him," Mr. Binns replied.

"My Auror gave me some glamours so that no one would know it was me," Harry replied, thinking that maybe he ought to have Tonks remove the glamours so that Mr. Binns could be sure it was really him.

"Oh, I can see the scar if I look closely enough and I can see the glamours flickering," Mr. Binns said.

Harry remembered that Tonks was an animorphmagus and didn't need to use spells to change her own appearance, so he figured she must be weak at them from lack of use.

"First it is customary to hand me a retainer, which can be any amount of money you like, even a knut," Mr. Binns said.

Harry had some coins in his pocket left over from the clothing store, so he handed Mr. Binns a sickle.

"Great. So what can I help you with today Harry?" Mr. Binns asked.

"Well I need help with two things, but first I need to know if you can keep this confidential," Harry answered.

"Absolutely. Once you gave me that retainer, then anything we say is protected by attorney client privilege. That's why I always have to ask for it first."

"What about if Voldemort and his Death Eaters kidnap you, torture you, and read your mind?" Harry asked seriously. This was a real concern for him.

"Well I should hope that I manage to keep our dealings quiet enough that they never come after me, but if they do, I am skilled in occlumency and I will do my best to resist torture. I value attorney client privilege a great deal and I would not violate that trust if I were still of sound mind. I think that's about as good a guarantee as any you'll get from a lawyer."

"Alright, good. Well first of all I'm dating Draco Malfoy and would like to put in a contract marriage proposal."

"You are aware that his father is a Death Eater and therefore your proposal will likely be rejected?" Mr. Binns asked.

"It might not be; he's pregnant," Harry revealed. "That's the other thing I need your help with, because I want to write out my will, leaving everything to Draco and the baby."

"Well I certainly wasn't expecting that, but I'm sure I can help."

First they went over Harry's lists of assets and who he wanted to leave them to for the will.

"Good. I can put together a will based on what you've told me. You'll have to read it over and let me know if there are any changes for me to make. It would be best if you could visit me again so I can explain anything you don't understand."

"Alright, yeah, I can do that," Harry replied thinking that there weren't any more Hogsmeade weekends left in the term, but he could sneak out using one of the secret passages.

"Good, then let's move onto marriage contracts. How much do you know about them?"

"Not much. I know Draco's parents are more likely to agree and push it through, because of the baby. And I know that money and assets matter."

"Yes, money and assets are important, as well as blood purity and social status. I've got enough information on your money and assets and we all know your social status as the boy who lived. With those three things, you'll have an attractive package, although not a perfect one. What is your blood status, by the way?"

"I'm halfblood. My dad was a pureblood and my mum was muggleborn."

"Well that's not good, considering you want to marry into the Malfoy family, but that won't be detrimental to our case. Is there anything else that might make you a valuable asset to have in the family?"

"Well Draco mentioned that I'm magically gifted and a Peverell. He seemed to think those things mattered."

"Yes, those things do matter. Your survival in the face of all odds is legendary, but I'm afraid I don't know just how powerful you are. There is a simple spell I could use to find out. Is it alright if I use it on you now?"

"Yeah, go for it," Harry replied.

Mr. Binns cast a spell Harry didn't recognize that produced translucent colored lights. It looked almost like a rainbow, except there was a great overabundance of red and blue, but an under abundance of green. "Well it seems that you have an average amount of magic in all areas except defensive magics, love magics, and evil magics. You've plenty of love and defense and hardly any evil. You'd probably never be able to cast a good killing curse."

"I don't plan to use the killing curse to defeat Voldemort, but is my magical strength good or bad?"

"I would say excellent. You are obviously very magically inclined and that should help me put together an attractive proposal."

"Brilliant."

"Now there are other matters we need to discuss, such as your physical proposal."

"Isn't the proposal what you're helping me with?"

"I'm helping with the marriage contract. You still need to get down on one knee and propose, with a ring and a nice speech professing your undying love."

"I can do that. I bought a ring today, want to see?" Harry asked, reaching for the jewelry bag in his pocket.

"Yes, I would," Mr. Binns replied and Harry pulled out the ring and showed it to him. "This is a very nice ring, although I don't think it will work for either the wedding ring or the engagement ring."

"But the store owner said it was a wedding ring and I could use it as an engagement ring," Harry protested.

"Well in less discriminatory circles, it could be used as either; it is nice enough. But for someone of Mr. Malfoy's status as the future Lord of Malfoy Manor, he'll need a ring with a bigger stone for a wedding ring. It can be like this one, but with one big flashy eye catching stone."

"Merlin, maybe I can take this back and get him to put in a bigger stone."

"That's a possibility, but I would wait on getting a wedding band until after your proposal is accepted, because the Malfoy family might very well have a wedding band to contribute to the marriage. If a typical wizard from that type of family were to pursue a pureblooded witch, the wizard's family would normally have a wedding band for the witch that was a family heirloom. But with your complex situation, there is a chance his parents won't have a sufficient band for a man or just won't want to give it to him."

"Oh, so I should return this one and get my money back?"

"Well, maybe not. There is no rule saying you can't lavish gifts of jewelry on your intended. You could give him that ring just because."

"Isn't there any way I can turn it into an engagement ring?" Harry was considering using this ring tomorrow after he and Draco return from visiting Narcissa. If Harry had to wait to get another ring, then that would set his plans back. He didn't like Draco walking around pregnant with his child and not even engaged to him. He wanted the world, sans Voldemort, to know that he was committed to Draco.

"A typical engagement ring has your family crest on it. Mr. Malfoy would then give you a ring with his family crest on it. The rings are made out of platinum, like your ring, but they're made exclusively by goblins and the older the ring, the better it'll look in the contract."

"I don't have any ring with my family crest on it."

"I'll arrange to have one made by goblins right away, but are you sure you don't have one? Rings like that are small and easily lost in large Gringotts vaults full of gold."

"I guess there could be one in my vault…but I can't go to Gringotts and check."

"I can request that the goblins look for a ring and if found, give it to me along with your vault statements. I'll pass along the ring to Professor Snape to give to you."

"That'd be great!' Harry exclaimed, before it dawned on him that Draco would have to wear a ring with the Potter crest and vice versa. "Wait, we need to keep this marriage a secret from Voldemort and his followers. Draco and I've agreed that if I die, he is to take the baby and pretend it's someone else's kid. We can't wear rings with each other's crests."

"That would be a problem, but you would have to at least give the rings with the crests, if not wear them. In that case, you might want to give Mr. Malfoy that plain ring to wear and the regular one to save and keep secret."

"Yeah, I like that idea," Harry replied, thinking that sounded perfect. He could still give Draco this ring and they could hide their family crest rings until after Voldemort's death.

"Excellent. Now remember, your actual proposal counts, so you should work on it for a while. It should be sappy and romantic and you should specifically say you love him and want to build a family with him. If his parents are on the fence, Mr. Malfoy may show them your proposal to tip the scales for or against your favor. So be eloquent and flattering; you could mention you like his eyes or some other feature, but make sure you practice it."

"Practice it, be romantic and eloquent, and suck up, got it," Harry replied.

"I think we're done for now. I just need your signature to authorize the appropriate Gringotts forms," Mr. Binns said placing several forms in front of Harry. Harry didn't read them; he just signed them blindly. "If you have questions you could owl me or pass me a message through Severus."

"Yeah, great," Harry said glancing at the clock on Mr. Binns' desk and realizing he was late for meeting Ron and Hermione at the Three Broomsticks. "I've got to go, but please keep in touch and let me know when the marriage contract is ready, because I want to do that right away."

"I'll do it as fast as I can and send it along to Severus. It was a pleasure to meet you Harry Potter," Mr. Binns said, leading Harry out the door.

Tonks was there waiting for Harry and together they ran to the Three Broomsticks. Mr. Binn's office was on the opposite side of town from the Three Broomsticks and Harry could only run as fast as Tonks' legs could take her, so it took them a good ten minutes to get there.

"Come in with me and have a pint," Harry said to Tonks when they arrived.

"I can't drink while on duty, but I could sit with you," Tonks replied in between panting for breath.

"Brilliant! Come along then," Harry said holding the door open for his friend.

"Tonks!" Ron called waving his arms from a table that he and Hermione had procured.

Harry and Tonks walked over to the table and sat down.

"Tonks, thank Merlin, Harry is missing. He was supposed to meet us here half an hour ago and no one has seen him. I haven't even been able to find Luna, who was supposed to be with him," Hermione babbled on, not realize that Harry was right in front of her.

"Hermione, I'm right here," Harry said, trying not to laugh, even though he found the situation very amusing.

"Blimey Harry, is that really you?" Ron asked.

"Yep, I disguised him meself," Tonks replied and Harry nodded.

"Brilliant Tonks, but Harry you had us worried sick," Hermione said.

"I'm sorry, but my errands ran a bit late and I didn't keep track of time. I made poor Tonks here run all the way through town to get here as fast as we could," Harry replied.

"'Snot so bad Harry; I need to keep in shape for me day job anyway," Tonks said.

"And your night job too, I reckon," Harry replied.

"Definitely," Tonks said with a grin.

"So Harry, what did you and Luna end up buying?" Hermione asked.

"A necklace chain for her to add bubblegum or something to. She's working on making something that will help me with the war and just needed me to buy the chain," Harry lied.

"You bought a girl a necklace for her to add bubblegum to, for your war effort?" Ron asked sniggering.

"Yeah, I figured it couldn't hurt," Harry replied.

After that was settled, Ron and Hermione retold their adventures buying quills and chocolate, while Harry ate lunch and drank his butterbeer and Tonks watched.

After a nice lunch, Harry and his friends walked back to Hogwarts, escorted by Tonks, who left them at the front gate. They went first to Gryffindor tower to deposit their purchases and then headed to the library with their backpacks to do research for an upcoming essay. After two hours Harry and Ron left to go to Quidditch practice, while Hermione remained behind at the library. Quidditch went well and then it was time for dinner, so Harry and Ron went up to their dorm room to change.

"Are you ready to go?" Ron asked when he was done changing.

"You go ahead Ron, I'm gonna get Dobby to bring me something in the room of requirement," Harry replied.

"You're spending an awful lot of time in there."

"Yeah, I know, but I can't tell you the details of what I'm working on yet. Mostly I eat, study, work on occlumency, and think about Dumbledore's lessons on Voldemort," Harry lied.

"You'll tell me when you can though, right Harry? When this is all over or when the three of us are safely in hiding?"

"Yeah mate, I'll tell you."

"Okay, I'll just see you tonight after detention," Ron replied.

"Merlin's saggy ballocks, I forgot about detention with Snape!" Harry exclaimed.

Harry grabbed his backpack and ran off to the room of requirement. The door was already there waiting for him, which meant Draco was inside. Harry opened the door and found their usual lilac beach and began his search for Draco. Harry didn't see any movement in the ocean or the forest, so he walked into the hut. Draco's school bag was there, so Harry set his backpack down on the coffee table next to it. Harry searched the hut, but didn't find Draco. But when Harry was checking the nursery, he noticed that there was a new door off of the hallway, on the left after the door to the sitting room. The door to the new room was cracked open and Harry slowly went inside. It was a study with a large wooden desk looking out on the lilac forest.

Draco was lying with his head on the desk on top of parchment and several open books. As Harry walked towards his boyfriend, he looked around to see more of the usual Hawaiian décor, but also shelf after shelf of books lining the two walls without windows. And there was a large wooden inlay of a dragon in the middle of the room.

This room was Draco's study and that made Harry stop and think about just what sort of person would take a chance to make anything in the world and choose a study. 'Hermione's type of person,' Harry finally concluded thinking that his best friend and his boyfriend had far more in common than either would ever admit.

Harry didn't want to wake Draco, but he also didn't want his boyfriend sleeping on books like that or missing dinner. Harry had been gone all day and didn't even know when the last time Draco ate was. Did Draco have his snacks without him? Did Draco eat lunch? What about breakfast? Harry could go on forever with worry over Draco, so he quickly gave up and gently nudged Draco.

Draco woke up and Harry apologized for not coming sooner and offered to call Dobby to bring dinner. Draco had eaten a large snack that he had found in an ice box that had materialized in the sitting room, so he wasn't hungry yet. Since they only had an hour before Harry's detention with Snape, they decided to fool around in the bedroom instead.

Harry prepared himself with his usual three spells, still standing up mind you, while Draco filled the applicator. As soon as Draco was done, Harry was on Draco, pressing his lips to Draco's plump and juicy lips. Harry pushed Draco against the wall and licked Draco's lower lip until Draco opened his mouth and allowed Harry's tongue inside. Draco's lips moved underneath Harry's and Draco's tongue hesitantly stroked Harry's tongue.

*censored

Having just slept for two hours, Draco for once wasn't sleepy after cumming. He let Harry hold him for five minutes before jumping up and grabbing his clothes. "Call Dobby and let's have a quick meal," Draco instructed.

Harry followed Draco's lead and pulled his clothes back on. Draco went to the study to pack up his things and Harry went to the dining patio and called Dobby, who agreed to bring them dinner right away. Harry went back into the hut and found Draco putting his things away. Harry walked up behind his boyfriend and enveloped Draco in his arms for a hug.

From behind, Harry nuzzled Draco's ear and neck and said, "I love you." He wanted to say it, but he also wanted to see if Draco would say it back.

Draco didn't reply, but turned around in Harry's arms and pressed with lips to Harry's lips. Harry returned the kiss and the two of them snogged for a minute until they heard the pop of Dobby's dinner appearing. "Come on, I'm hungry," Draco said breaking away from the kiss.

Harry, having forgotten that he was waiting for Draco to tell him anything, led Draco out to the dining patio where the two of them had a lovely, if rushed meal. After dinner, Harry rushed off to his detention.

"Evening Mr. Potter," Snape greeted.

"Good evening professor. I met with Mr. Binns today."

"And how did that go?"

"Good, I think. He said I need a ring with a family crest to give Draco for an engagement ring. He's gonna go to Gringotts for me and see if there's one in my vault and if not, he's gonna place an order with goblins to make one. He said he'd give it to you as soon as he gets it."

"Very well, Mr. Potter. But what about the marriage contract?"

"Same: he's working on it and will pass it along to you to give to me. He wants to meet with me again so we can finalize it."

"Do you really want to wait until the end of term to propose? I was under the impression this wedding was to occur before the end of term."

"No, I'd do it sooner if I got everything sorted sooner. But yeah, before the end of term would be good." Harry left out that he'd been planning on sneaking out to go see Mr. Binns, but if Snape had a better solution, he was all ears.

"I can arrange for Mr. Binns to come onto school grounds to meet with you as soon as he has the contract prepared. Perhaps next weekend or the weekend after…"

"Next weekend would be best; the weekend after is Quidditch."

"What about your trip with Ms. Lovegood? What did you buy and how much does she know?"

"I bought a ring. I don't think Draco will be able to wear the ring with the crest, so I bought him a plain ring that he can wear in front of everyone and not be found out. I plan on giving it to him when I propose."

"And Ms. Lovegood?

"She only knows that it's an engagement ring for a boy I fancy. Nothing more."

"Very well, you may take your seat," Snape replied and Harry did just that.

Harry sat down, pulled out his books he checked out from the library earlier, and began to study. He expected to be alone in detention, so he was a bit surprised when Draco stopped by half an hour later to talk to Snape.

"Professor Snape?" Draco asked, entering the office.

"Yes Mr. Malfoy?" Snape greeted.

"Sir, I was wondering if I could continue meeting with Harry for occlumency practice this week?" Draco asked. "During our usual detention time on Tuesdays and Fridays, even though I don't have any more detentions."

"Hey, Thursday is my last day. I won't be here on Friday," Harry put in.

"Mr. Potter, have you forgotten the five additional detentions I gave you for fighting in the hallway with Mr. Malfoy?" Snape asked.

"Well…um…I was in detention those days with Draco; I thought that would cover it. Plus, you know we were only pretending to fight, to keep his image intact."

"Be that as it may, you still have to serve your detentions and you cannot serve a detention when you are already serving detention," Snape replied.

"Great," Harry huffed. "At least it'll only be an hour." Harry was thinking that he would still be able to get to Quidditch practice after detention.

"It was one hour for Mr. Malfoy, because he was the victim in your attack. It will be the full three hours for you, Mr. Potter."

"No, that's so not far," Harry retorted.

"And is almost killing Mr. Malfoy fair? Is raping him fair? Is forcing him to carry and give birth to your child fair? This is not a fair world Mr. Potter. It is time you learned that," Snape replied coldly.

"Yes Professor," Harry replied scathingly.

"So, back to my question of occlumency practice?" Draco piped in, trying to keep out of the argument, but wanting to get his answer, so he could get to his common room already. Pansy, Tracey, Daphne, Sophie, and Milli would be waiting on him, or worse, gossiping about boys without him.

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy, you may continue to grace Mr. Potter and me with your presence in detention every Tuesday and Friday. Is there anything else?"

"No, not really, sir. You know that Harry and I are going to visit mother tomorrow morning, correct?" Draco asked.

"Yes Mr. Malfoy. Come to my office after breakfast and I'll let the two of you use my floo," Snape answered.

"Thank you Professor, I'll just be going now," Draco replied, before heading out the door.

After that, Harry really was left to detention alone, so he returned to his books.

* * *

Author's Note: Next chapter Harry will be meeting Narcissa Malfoy! I haven't written it yet, so please give me some inspiration: What should happen? If you have an answer or any other comment, please leave me a review!


	27. Chapter 27

Author's Note: No censorship was needed in this chapter.

I have my last final today. And when I say last final, I don't mean of the semester. This is the last class I need for my PhD and could quite possibly end up being the last final of my life. Wish me luck!

* * *

Harry woke up after a nightmare the next morning. It was four am and he was wide awake with a horrible pit in his stomach as he remembered his dream. It hadn't started off too bad; he was with Draco and that tended to lead to very good dreams. But with his impending visit to his future mother-in-law on his mind, his subconscious delivered a horrible dream in which he went to the house on Grimmauld Place and met a woman who looked like Draco's mum, but screamed and screeched like Sirius' mum's portrait.

In Harry's dream, Draco's mum had refused to let Harry marry Draco and called Harry a blood traitor and a halfblood, before saying Harry was unfit to marry her son. And that wasn't even the worst part, because she somehow knew about the bathroom incident and the baby. She called Harry a rapist and convinced Draco to get an abortion, so that Draco could marry a nice pureblood and settle down properly. It was awful.

Harry didn't think he could get back to sleep after that and he was covered in sweat from his nightmare, so he took a soothing shower to calm his nerves. After he finished he looked at the clock to see that it was only four thirty; he still had _hours_ before breakfast. Harry thought about going to the room of requirement for a nice swim, but then he remembered his broom and the upcoming Quidditch match that was only two weeks away.

Harry threw on his Quidditch gear, grabbed a broom, and headed off to the Quidditch pitch. He did his warm-up drills and practiced catching the snitch a few times, but then spent most of his time flying, just flying, and enjoying the feeling of the chilly air hitting his heated face. He flew high into the air and dived down low, before taking off again in exhilarating upside down loops. Harry lost himself in his flying for hours as the school slowly came to life.

As the sun rose in the sky, Harry noticed smoke coming from the chimney of Hagrid's hut. Harry hadn't seen Hagrid in a while, since he wasn't taking care of magical creatures this year, so he decided to pay his friend a visit. He flew over and knocked on Hagrid's door.

"Oh hullo Harry! What're yer doin' up and about this early?" Hagrid asked, opening his front door.

"Flying; I couldn't sleep," Harry replied resting his boom against the side of the house.

Hagrid served tea and told Harry about Hagrid's latest adventure in the forbidden fores. The centaurs were riled up about Aragog's children, who were now out of control in the absence of their dead patriarch. But then Hagrid had to tend to his animals before breakfast, so Harry took his broom and went back to Gryffindor tower to shower, again, and change. Harry wasn't particularly dirty, but he had been flying for hours and had gotten a few bugs in his face. He wanted to look his best for meeting Draco's mum, thus the quick shower and an adventure with a comb.

"Just leave it, you're never gonna get it to lie down," Ron said, referring to Harry's hair.

"You're probably right," Harry said.

Giving up on the comb, Harry set about dressing in his nicest clothes, most of which were the new items he had purchased the day before, but he did throw on a Weasley sweater over his shirt and his school robes over that.

When Harry was finally dressed he went down to breakfast. There were only a few people down and already eating, but one of those people was Draco. Harry sat down and tried to eat, but the pit in his stomach was growing again. The time was passing quickly and he would be meeting Draco's mum in less than an hour, which gave Harry quite the case of nerves. What if she didn't like him? What if she turned down his marriage contract? What if she told Draco to leave him? What if he never saw Draco or the baby again?

'Merlin, my whole life could be over based on what happens today,' Harry thought placing his spoon back in his bowl.

"What's wrong Potter? Your little mudblood friends desert you? Guess they got tired of looking at that ugly scared head of yours," Draco said as he passed by the Gryffindor table and saw Harry staring into his cereal bowl when Harry was supposed to be getting up and following him to Professor Snape's office. He wanted to say something less mean, but he really shouldn't be seen talking to Harry unless he was insulting Harry. And for the life of him, he couldn't think of any better insults.

"No, I've just got a whole day of detention with Snape to look forward to," Harry replied.

"A whole day? What'd you do? Get caught surviving another killing curse? At this point I'm beginning to think your head is made out of metal. It'd explain your refusal to die already and your intelligence level." There, that was a little better; slightly more insulting.

"Don't you have some first years to torment?" Harry asked standing up. "I've got to get to detention anyway.

"As a matter of fact, I'm going home for the day to visit my mother. Those of us with mothers tend to do that every once in a while," Draco replied striding out of the Great Hall and down to the dungeons.

"Harry?" Neville asked. He was sitting a few feet down from Harry. "Are you alright? You shouldn't listen to him."

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks Neville."

"He's wrong you know; most of us aren't allowed to leave the school to visit our family during the school year. I don't see Gran except for breaks."

"Yeah, Ron too. Good talking to you, but I really should get to detention before Snape comes looking for me," Harry lied, grabbing his backpack.

"See you Harry," Neville called as Harry left the Great Hall.

Harry didn't want to be caught walking with Draco, so he made an effort to walk slowly and not catch Draco up. Draco was already inside Snape's office when Harry arrived, so Harry closed the door firmly before walking over to his boyfriend.

"Go ahead, but don't leave headquarters," Snape said, motioning towards his fireplace.

Draco took a pinch of floo powder, called out, "The ancient and most noble house of Black," and was off. Harry grabbed his own pinch and followed quickly after.

Harry coughed and stumbled as he exited the fireplace into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. It looked tidier, but also more oppressing, if that were possible. At least before the kitchen had Mrs. Weasley's presence to brighten the place up, but now there was no sign of her. The only sign of life he could see was through the doorway, in the sitting room, where he saw Draco hugging Narcissa. Harry brushed the soot off his robes and straightened his hair nervously. Then he didn't know if he should go in the sitting room and introduce himself, or if that would be intruding. Maybe he should give Draco and Narcissa a minute first.

"Well come along," Narcissa said as she waited for Draco's young man to come introduce himself.

Draco had a huge smile from ear to ear plastered on his face as he waited for Harry to join them. Draco motioned Harry over, so Harry took one last gulp of breath and went for it. He walked into the sitting room, held out his hand to shake, and said, "Hello Lady Malfoy, I'm Harry Potter."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Harry, but you can call me Cissy," Narcissa replied.

"Yes mam, it's a pleasure to meet you as well." There, that wasn't too bad; it sounded reasonably polite to Harry's ears.

"Mother was just having her morning tea. Do you want to join her?" Draco invited, motioning towards the large tea service and platter of scones and jam his mother had out for the occasion.

"Yes please," Harry said walking over and taking a seat in one of the arm chairs.

Draco sat in an armchair next to Harry's and began making himself tea.

"Harry, I wanted to thank you for your generosity of letting me stay in your house and for arranging for Severus to help me escape," Narcissa said taking the third armchair and picking up her tea.

"You're welcome, mam. I'm just glad I could help, although I don't know why Snape didn't get you out of there sooner," Harry said grabbing a teacup and making his own cup of tea.

"Well he wasn't aware that I wanted out. I was trying to play my part and let my very loud sister speak for me most of the time. Severus is rarely around, so he wasn't aware that I was anything other than happy with my dreaded sister. Bella means well; she's just a little out of touch," Narcissa replied, not willing to speak ill of her sister.

"Well I'm just glad Professor Snape did rescue mother," Draco said, hoping that they would not get stuck on the subject of his horrible aunt.

"Yes, I quite agree Draco," Narcissa replied and Harry murmured his agreement. "Now Harry, just what are your intentions towards my sweet Draco?"

Draco's mum really did get straight to the point, didn't she? The sudden brooch of this most important subject caused Harry to sputter. Harry just barely gulped down the tea he had had in his mouth. There was an instant when he worried that his tea would go flying out his mouth or that he would drop his teacup as his hands shook, but then the moment passed and he set his cup down without embarrassing himself.

"I want to marry him, mam. I've met with a lawyer who's currently putting a proposal together for a marriage contract," Harry finally managed to say, trying his hardest not to stammer.

"Very good Harry. But I should say that I won't be able to accept a contact until this blasted war ends," Narcissa replied, not knowing about the baby.

"It'll be over soon enough, mother," Draco replied, staring at his cup of blasted tea. He hated tea and only made himself a cup to be polite. He really wished Harry's blasted elf would bring him his regular pumpkin juice already. He had been here several times now; the elf should know to bring him juice.

"And just what will your role be in this upcoming war, Harry?" Narcissa asked.

"I plan on killing Voldemort," Harry replied honestly.

"That seems a bit dangerous position for a child. How do you suppose you're going to manage that?" Narcissa asked.

"Dumbledore has been giving me private lessons. I can't divulge our plan, but there is a plan," Harry answered.

"Very well. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors," Narcissa said.

"Thank you mam," Harry replied.

"Harry, may I ask you how much you know about marriage contracts?" Narcissa asked.

"Yes. Draco has told me a bit and Mr. Binns, my lawyer, told me some more yesterday. They're all about money and assets to be joined in the marriage," Harry answered.

"How much do you know about the personal side of the marriage? Love, children, and the roles we each play?" Narcissa asked.

"Not much. Is all that included in the contract too?" Harry asked. He didn't like the idea that a contract would delineate his personal life.

"Yes. Perhaps Draco has given this some thought?" Narcissa turned to her son, who was eating a scone with jam.

Draco swallowed the bite of food in his mouth, put his scone back on his plate, and answered, "Um, well I'd stay home with the kids when they're younger while Harry does his saving the world and Auror career stuff. I expect him to have that worked out by the time the kids start kindergarten; private of course. Then he'll cut back on his hours so I can pursue my political career. And we'll be relying on your assistance with the children, because I hope that you'll be living with us. The house elves will do all the chores."

Harry didn't know that Draco wanted to go into politics, but he didn't want to ask Draco about that now, in front of Narcissa, so he filed the information away for later.

"Who is going to be carrying the children?" Narcissa asked.

"Harry," Draco replied. If there were any more children, Harry would be carrying them.

Harry had to bite his tongue from saying something about Draco already being pregnant. It was interesting to know that Draco would have Harry carry their children if Draco had the choice, but Draco didn't have that choice.

"Are you willing to carry and give birth to my grandchildren Harry?" Narcissa asked.

"Um, not right now, but after I kill Voldemort I will," Harry answered. He wanted to say no, but he ended up going along with what Draco said, because Draco probably knew what his mother wanted to hear. Would Narcissa reject the contract if Draco was to carry the children?

"And how will you breast feed, when you're an Auror?" Narcissa asked.

"He'll express breast milk for me to feed the child," Draco answered.

"Well I must say it is unusual for the top to stay home with the children and the bottom to go off to work, especially with such a dangerous and demanding profession. But if the two of you are committed to making it work then I wish the both of you the best of luck," Narcissa said.

"Thank you mother," Draco replied.

"Thanks mam," Harry added.

"Now Draco, do tell me about your week," Narcissa requested.

Draco proceeded to tell his mother about his progress with his classes and the latest gossip in Slytherin house. Then he told her about spear fishing with Harry on their date Friday afternoon.

Narcissa told the boys about having her sister Andy over for tea and some of the other headquarters happenings. She was taking up knitting to pass the time and the charming Weasley woman came by twice a week to knit with her. Draco was happy his mother was making new friends and taking up new hobbies. Harry was happy Draco's mum could tame her aunt's portrait and get Kreacher to do more of the upkeep on the house.

After their chat, the three of them went for a walk in the garden, which Narcissa had been fixing up, so that it actually had a path people could walk through. There was also a small garden table, which used to be so overgrown with bushes and weeds that no one could see it, but Narcissa had recently uncovered it. They sat down at the table and Narcissa summoned a wizard skittles game board. Harry watched Draco and Narcissa play.

For lunch Kreacher served a beef pot roast with carrots and potatoes that didn't taste like something Kreacher could make, but more like something Dobby would make. Lunch was pleasant, but since Draco and Harry didn't want to spend the entire day with Narcissa. Thus they flooed back to Snape's office and went to the room of requirement; Harry wore his invisibility cloak and walked alongside Draco.

Lunch was pleasant, but since Draco and Harry didn't want to spend the entire day with Narcissa, they flooed back to Snape's office and went to the room of requirement; Harry wore his invisibility cloak and walked alongside Draco.

"So what do you want to do today?" Harry asked, once they arrived.

"Let's go snorkeling," Draco answered.

And so the two boys changed, grabbed the snorkel gear, and hit the beach. Harry saw a number of interesting fish and even an eel and a dolphin, before he and Draco returned to the shore. Draco cast drying charms and they lay out on beach towels in the fake-sun on the sand, Draco cuddled in Harry's arms.

"I think the visit with mother went well," Draco said.

"Me too, although I didn't know you wanted to go into politics," Harry said.

"Why else would I be getting a NEWT in history of magic and having Professor Binns tutor me every Monday?" Draco asked in reply. He had never needed the tutoring before, but he had majorly slacked off in that class when he was worried about his mother and trying to fix that blasted cabinet. As a result, he was still behind and needed the extra tutoring.

"I didn't know you were getting a NEWT in history of magic," Harry replied.

"That's what I was working on when I fell asleep yesterday," Draco stated.

"Well whatever you want to do, I'll support you," Harry replied, hoping Draco would feel the same way about him and becoming an Auror.

"I'd rather you pick a safer career path than Auror, but I guess I'll tolerate it, as long as you're not pregnant," Draco said.

"Do you really want me to get pregnant? I thought you were just saying that, because you didn't want to tell your mum about the baby yet," Harry replied.

"Well it might be nice to have a second child; a little girl if this one's a boy. And if that happens, we will be using your body. The bottom is expected to carry the children," Draco replied.

"The bottom?" Harry asked. "You mum said something about top and bottom too."

"The person who does the buggering is called the top; the one who gets buggered is the bottom. You're the bottom, I'm the top. In the majority of queer Peverell relationships, the bottom takes on the role of the woman and the top takes on the role of the man. Mother commented that we have the roles a bit mixed up. But it doesn't matter how we split it up, as long as it's fair and we both agree," Draco said.

"Okay, that makes sense."

"I'm hungry, will you get me a couple of guavas?" Draco asked.

"You sure have eaten a lot today."

"I eat this amount every day now. Professor Snape's been weighing me and he says I haven't gained any weight yet. The baby must be using up all the extra food," Draco replied. He always ate well, but now he was eating an average of three extra snacks a day. Well those snacks were all fruits and vegetables, so maybe it wasn't that much extra food.

"I'd like to go with you when Professor Snape does your checkups," Harry replied.

"Alright, yeah, now get me my snack."

"Yes your majesty," Harry said taking off to find one of the guava trees in the lilac forest.

The guava trees, being slightly taller and not bearing any blossoms, were easy to pick out, so Harry quickly returned with a half dozen of the little fruits. Harry sat the fruits on the dining table and said, "I'm back."

Draco jumped up from the beach and took a seat at the dining table. "Do you want one?" Draco asked, holding out one of the fruits to Harry.

Harry agreed and took one of the fruits, trying it for the first time. It was good, but all of the seeds made it difficult to eat. When he finished, Harry looked down at the table and realized that Draco had eaten the rest of the fruits. "That good huh?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, really hits the spot," Draco replied.

Draco went into the hut to wash his hands. Harry followed Draco into the hut and went into the bedroom. Harry changed into his pants and readied the stretching potion applicator. Harry was just finishing and setting the applicator on the dresser when Draco came out of the bathroom. Draco was back into his pants.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked.

"I was thinking we might wank, if that's alright with you," Harry replied blushing. He had just assumed they would wank; maybe he should have led up to it more or asked.

"A real romantic, you are."

"Okay, should I romance you and then wank you?" Harry asked stepping forward with a smile. He was planning on snogging Draco senseless.

"As a matter of fact, yes, I would like to be romanced at least once a week. Jumping to the wanking when our time is short is one thing, but at least once every weekend I expect you do to it right."

"Okay, give me a minute, and I'll come up with something romantic."

"Sure, I'll just be in the study," Draco said, walking back towards the bathroom to get to the hallway.

Harry decided he would cut Draco some of the flowers that grew in the lilac forest. Harry went out to the beach shed, to see if there were any supplies that might be useful. When Harry opened the shed door and looked around, he found a basket with a pair of plant shears. Thanking the room of requirement for providing, Harry went off to the forest.

First Harry cut several stems of lilac and then he went to the rose bushes, which were covered in white blooms. He cut a few stems with rose buds and a few more with rose blooms that had just opened. 'It's a good thing Aunt Petunia made me do so much gardening,' Harry thought to himself as he gathered loose petals from a number of blooms that were past their peak. Finally Harry gathered a dozen or so of the white narcissus flowers that grew along the bank of the pond. He left the water lilies, because water lilies never keep once cut.

'I wish I had some of the other type of lily…Something with a bright splash of color to tie this bouquet together…maybe even some Hawaiian flowers, whatever those are.'

Moments after Harry thought it, several new plants shot up out of the ground. There were now several small clumps of pink lilies and light pink orchids. Harry cut them all and added them to his basket, before heading back to the dining patio, where he wished for a vase. A vase promptly appeared on the table and Harry set to work trimming and arranging the flowers. There were white roses, white narcissus, pink lilies, pink orchids, and purple lilacs. He stepped back and took a look at it.

'Too girly for my taste, but the book recommended flowers…I hope Draco likes it,' Harry thought taking his basket of flowers and his vase of flowers into the bedroom. He set the vase on the dresser and spread the rose petals and left over lilacs all over the room and especially on the bed. 'It's too early for candles; the fake sun is still streaming in…oh well, at least I can get dressed in something nice.'

Harry didn't have his dress robes with him, so he wished for something Draco would like and opened the closet. It wasn't the dress robes he was expecting, but a pair of denim jeans and nothing else. Harry liked jeans, but the wizarding clothing shop had not had any jeans yesterday; if Draco liked them, he might go out of his way to buy some.

'This will have to do,' Harry thought shrugging, before pulling them on. He checked himself out in the mirror and liked what he saw. 'I look hot!' His jeans sat low on his hips, exposing just the top of his crotch. He had his pants on underneath, so the jeans showed the waistband of his pants, instead of his actual crotch. The jeans had a stylish wash to them and were faded in all the right spots.

Harry wasn't sure if the jeans and the flowers were enough, or if he should give Draco the ring too. He had meant it as an engagement ring, but after talking to Mr. Binns, he had decided to wait until next weekend to propose. Hopefully by then he'd have the proper ring and thought of a good speech. 'Maybe I can get Hermione to help me with it without telling her it's for Draco…' Harry thought as he slipped the ring in his pocket, just in case he needed it. That and he didn't like leaving it. Maybe it was that he paid a _lot_ of money for it and didn't want to lose it or maybe it was the sentiment that made him keep it on him.

And so with the sexy pair of jeans on, the ring in his pocket, and his vase of flowers in hand, Harry went to the study and found…it empty. Draco wasn't in there. Draco wasn't in the bedroom or the bathroom, so Harry rechecked the sitting room. Draco wasn't in any of those rooms, so that left the nursery. Harry went back down the hall and found Draco in the nursery sitting on the rocker with the green stuffed sea turtle in his lap. The nursery was the same as before, except that the wall that joined with the study no longer had windows looking out on the lilac forest.

"Hi Draco, I'm ready to do this again: these are for you," Harry said handing Draco the vase.

Draco's eyes lit up when he saw the beautiful arrangement; he hadn't thought Harry would have been able to make something so nice. 'Maybe the room provided it for him, already made,' he thought as he sniffed the fragrant blossoms.

"I made it myself, from flowers I got from the lilac forest," Harry said when Draco went too long without responding.

"They're beautiful. Thank you Harry," Draco said smiling and setting the vase down on the end table next to the rocking chair. "I love them."

"What are you doing in here? I thought you were gonna be in the study."

"I like to come in here to think," Draco said, his hand subconsciously going to his lower abdomen, where his baby was growing.

"What were you thinking about?" Harry asked, thinking it must be about the baby.

"Mmm…I was thinking that it would be nice to have a second child in a few years; a little princess who'd look just like a younger version of my mother. I think two children would be best. I was thinking that I'd have mother put that in our contract."

"That sounds nice. Even if it's another boy, two kids can play together," Harry said, deliberately not mentioning how awful it was growing up with Dudley. They had been two boys very close in age living in the same house, so they should have got on well, but prejudice, favoritism, and rotten spoiled brats got in the way of that. His children wouldn't be like that, because he would be there to teach them differently. Besides, now was not the time to oppose Draco, especially on little things like this. They could worry about it more after the war.

"No, I want one of each. There's a potion we can take to ensure a girl and another to ensure a boy, so we can choose. I was just wondering if you're really okay with carrying the next baby in your own body or were you keeping quiet earlier because mother was there?" Draco asked.

"Well I'd never really thought about it before. I didn't even know it was possible until recently. But it does seem fair that if you carry this one, then I should carry the next one. I think it might be difficult to juggle being pregnant and being an Auror. Hopefully I can take some time off from work or be moved to desk duty. Tonks told me they gave her desk duty for a week when her arm was severed and had to be reattached. So I think it's possible and that I need more time to think about it. I still need to get used to the idea, you know?"

"Yeah, I'm still getting used to the idea that I'm pregnant," Draco admitted. "Unmarried, underage, fatherless, and pregnant by a man with a death warrant on his head."

"It's going to be okay Draco. You'll be seventeen soon and I'm gonna marry you before our baby is born. I'm going to kill Voldemort and we're gonna be a happy family. I love you Draco and I swear I'll keep you safe.

"Yeah, it's just scary, you know?"

"I know," Harry said, bending down on one knee in front of Draco. That ring was burning a hole in his pocket and he just had to ask. "Draco, I never thought I would love you as much as I do. I want to be with you forever and I'll do whatever it takes to ensure we get our happily ever after. Your smile lights up the room and your kisses make my head spin. Will you marry me and spend the rest of your life with me, lighting up my world?" Harry asked, pulling out the ring.

Draco thought Harry was just being sappy in response to what Draco had said, but then Harry pulled out the ring and Draco was shocked. Draco hadn't expected Harry to propose so soon. The ring was pretty, but it wasn't the proper engagement ring, so Draco didn't know what to do in that regard. And Harry was still waiting for an answer!

"Yes," Draco replied, looking back and forth between Harry's face and the ring.

"I'm working on getting the family crest ring, but I thought this one would be better, because you won't be able to go around wearing a ring with the Potter family crest," Harry explained. "Can I put it on?"

"Yeah," Draco said breathlessly, holding out his hand. 'Okay, Harry's reason for getting this ring was romantic, thoughtful, and safety conscience.'

To Harry's delight, the ring fit perfectly as he slipped it onto Draco's ring finger. "Come here," Harry said standing up and taking Draco into a hug and snogging Draco. After a minute Harry broke the kiss and sat down, pulling Draco onto his lap. Harry hadn't wanted to sit on Draco's lap, because of the baby. "What're you thinking?"

"I'm thinking this is a good thing. I want to be married before the baby is born. It would be best to do it before we go into hiding, at the end of the school year," Draco replied, snuggling into Harry's naked chest and arms. Harry was warm and comfortable.

Harry had wanted to hear that Draco loved him back. He wanted to hear that Draco wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. He wanted to hear anything other than wanting to get married for the baby. Sure, they were speeding things along for the baby, but for Harry at least, this entire relationship wasn't just about their baby. There were real feelings for Draco and Harry really wanted to know how Draco felt about him. "But how do you feel about marrying _me_? How do you feel about me? I told you that I love you, but you haven't said it back."

Draco let out a sigh, before answering, "I have feelings for you Harry, otherwise I wouldn't be here with you. I wouldn't be having your baby and marrying you if I didn't think that we could build a life together. But, I don't love you; I'm just not there yet and that'll take me more time. I'm not going to cheapen it by saying it back before I'm ready."

"Why aren't you there yet?" Harry asked. He loved Draco, so why didn't Draco love him back?

"Harry, I'm trying to be patient with you and understanding of your feelings. Why can't you do the same for me?"

"I'll try, if you just explain it to me. I need to know what the problem is, so I know what I need to fix, or work on, or change, or whatever!"

"It's that day in the loo, alright! I want to move forward with you, but then I remember what you did to me."

"Are you still scared of me?" Harry asked. Everything always came back to that day in the bathroom; how was he ever going to make up for that horrible mistake? Was it going to haunt him for the rest of his life? If he married Draco, would their lives together always be based on his mistake? Would Draco always be scared of Harry? Would Draco ever love Harry? Could Draco ever forget what Harry did?

"Sometimes, yes. Most of the time I think you wouldn't hurt me intentionally. But you're stronger than me and more powerful than me, so I know you can hurt me if you want to or lose control. That's a hard thing to forget."

"Okay, I get that. I know what I did was very wrong and I never want to hurt you again. Do you think I can ever earn your trust back?"

"Yes, but it takes time."

"Yeah, time. But why did you say yes, if you're not there yet?"

"Because I want to be married for the baby and I honestly believe I'll get there. We haven't even been dating a month Harry! How can you say you love me already?"

"Because I do, I can feel it. But if you don't honestly love me back yet, I don't want to rush it for the baby. We have some time left before the end of term; I'm not going to stop the marriage contract business, because I want that to be ready for us when you are. But I don't want to be engaged until you're ready."

Draco didn't know why he was sad or crying, but he was. Harry hadn't broken up with him and Harry's reasoning made sense. They would still get married in a few months, but they didn't need to get engaged just yet. Draco sniffled and began to take the ring off to give back to Harry.

"No, you can keep it. I'm gonna give you the proper one next time I ask you. Waiting will give me time to practice my speech more; I'm not happy with my first try," Harry said, stopping Draco from removing the ring.

"Are you sure?" Draco asked, still crying softly.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Now come here and kiss me," Harry said wrapping his arms around Draco in a firm hug and waiting for Draco to touch Draco's lips to Harry's own. Harry was upset about the failed proposal, but he didn't want to take that out on Draco. It wasn't Draco's fault and Harry would worry about it later, when he could get some alone time to think about it.

* * *

Author's Note: So what do you think? Like it or hate it? Team Harry or Team Draco? Please review!

This story is officially my most popular story ever! It has more favorites and alerts than any of my other works! Whohoo!


	28. Chapter 28

Author's Note: This chapter has been censored. If you read the uncensored version on the other site, please don't forget to review!

* * *

Not wanting to do anything sexual in the nursery, Harry suggested, "Want to see what I did with the bedroom?"

"Yeah," Draco replied standing up.

Harry stood up too and together they walked into the bedroom. Draco gasped when he saw the flowers all over the bed. He really didn't know what he was expecting when he asked Harry to be romantic, a good laugh maybe, but not a beautiful bouquet of his favorite flowers and certainly not flowers all over their bed. It smelled wonderful, lilac and sea breeze, as usual, but also roses. And then there was the ring on his finger, which he looked down at and started to tear up again.

"Do you not like it?" Harry asked, seeing Draco crying again. He felt sad himself, but he didn't like making Draco cry.

"No, I do," Draco said before letting out a loud sob.

Seeing the tears stream more quickly down Draco's face, Harry took Draco into his arms and sat down on the bed, pulling Draco into his lap. "What's wrong?" he asked gently.

"Nothing," Draco replied and continued to cry.

"It's gonna turn out alright, you'll see; I'm gonna make it better," Harry said, scooting further back onto the bed and rocking Draco in his arms.

Draco didn't know what was wrong, he was just crying. Maybe it was that he was overwhelmed, or maybe it was the baby, or maybe it was Harry's sappy speech or the flowers; he didn't know what, but Harry was making him feel better. Draco felt safe and warm in Harry's arms and sparks tingled along his back and arms where Harry's hands ran over them and Harry's bare chest pressed against his skin. Crying took a lot out of Draco and with all the other things that had happened since he woke up this morning, such as meeting with mother, snorkeling, and Harry's botched proposal, he was tired. Draco closed his eyes and snuggled into Harry as his tears stopped.

Sleeping wasn't what Harry planned to do in the bedroom, but when Draco let out a soft snore, Harry knew that was what his boyfriend was doing. Since Draco was pregnant and needed his sleep, Harry decided not to be offended by this new development. Instead Harry lay down on the bed, taking Draco with him and just held him. Harry stayed like that for fifteen minutes, before he thought about the sex book and the oral spells he could be learning; time was precious lately.

Harry carefully crawled out of bed, found his sex book where he had hidden it in the closet and went to the sitting room to read. There were two main spells for good oral. One was the jaw distention charm, which would allow him to open his mouth wider than was physically possible and take Draco's massive cock inside his mouth. The other one increased the length he would be able to take in, using a wizard-space charm, allowing him to deep-throat Draco. They involved complicated wand work, but Harry set to work practicing both of them.

Draco woke up in a flower covered bed having to pee; having to pee wasn't unusual for him lately. The flowers and the tear streaks down his face were unusual, but he tried not to focus on that, instead washing his face off in the bathroom sink. Once he was presentable, he went looking for Harry and found Harry in the sitting room. Harry looked funny; Harry's jaw looked like it had dropped in disbelief. "What?" Draco asked.

"Nmhhmf," Harry replied, before casting a nonverbal finite. Apparently it was difficult to talk with those spells on his mouth. "I was just practicing some charms."

"What kind of charms? I'm glad I'm not taking charms this year if this is what Flitwick has you practicing for NEWTS."

"Um, no, this isn't for charms class," Harry replied, somewhat embarrassed at getting caught. He didn't want to bring oral sex up when Draco had just woken up and had been crying earlier. He wasn't sure what set the crying off, but he didn't want to set it off again. They had gone into the room to wank when the crying started, so Harry figured that it was a good bet that it was the sex causing the crying.

Draco saw a book under Harry's arm and it looked like Harry was trying to hide it from him. His curiosity piqued, Draco decided to get a look at the book. He subtly sat down on the couch beside Harry and then reached out and snagged the book from under Harry's arm; it was the sex book Harry had shown him before. "Why are you hiding this?" Draco asked curiously.

"I wanted to surprise you. I've been working on some of the spells in here," Harry answered. The first part was a lie, but he knew better than to bring up Draco's crying; that'd probably get him cried at again, or slapped, or worse.

"Do you want to show me?" Draco asked with a seductive smile on his face.

"Yeah, alright," Harry said. "Pull down your pants."

"Why?" Draco asked, pulling down the pants and sitting back on the couch.

"They're for oral sex. Apparently I don't know how to talk with both of them on, but basically I'm just going to cast them and suck your cock," Harry said, wanting Draco to know what he was doing.

"Yeah, okay, go ahead," Draco replied smirking.

Harry cast both spells. He did the wizard mouth space one wrong and had to undo it and do it again, but then he was ready and kneeled down in front of Draco.

*censored

Harry crawled onto the couch and worked himself underneath and in back of Draco, so that he could hold him. Then seeing his wand wedged in-between the cushions, he grabbed it and cast a few finites on his mouth, ending the spells.

"Did you get it good?" Harry asked when Draco finally opened his eyes.

Draco nodded and snuggled into Harry's side, almost perfectly happy. The only thing that could make this moment better was if Draco's lower half weren't covered in semen and if his stomach wasn't churning so violently. And then the heaving started, so Draco covered his mouth with his hands and took off towards the bathroom, naked and puking on the way. His hands overflowed with his vomit, leaving a sickly trail behind him as he ran. When he reached the loo, he emptied his hands into the toilet and regurgitated his stomach contents into the bowl.

Harry ran after Draco, seeing Draco's distress and the trail of vomit Draco was leaving, and found his boyfriend hunched over the toilet and heaving violently. Harry wasn't sure what to do. Should he try to hold Draco's hair back? Draco didn't have all that much hair and it didn't seem to be getting in the way. Should Harry get Draco a glass of water? Draco didn't look like he was ready for that, because Draco was still puking. Was there some potion that would stop the vomiting? Should Harry get professor Snape? Was this morning sickness? It wasn't morning; it was an hour before dinner.

While Harry worried about what to do, Dobby appeared with a loud crack. Dobby was carrying a packet of saltine crackers and a glass of water. "Draco Malfoy, sir, needs to eat crackers now, sir," Dobby said in a high pitched shriek, distressed that his ward was vomiting. The elf paid no attention to the fact Draco was naked.

"Dobby? What's happening?" Harry asked, hoping the elf had the answers to his questions.

"Kreacher is a bad house elf, sir. Kreacher did not give Draco Malfoy, sir, the right pumpkin juice, sir," Dobby screeched.

"Okay, now how do we fix it Dobby? Do we need to get him to drink the right pumpkin juice?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Draco Malfoy, sir, needs to drink juice, sir. But first Draco Malfoy, sir, is eating crackers, sir."

"He can't eat when he's vomiting!" Harry replied watching Draco heave into the toilet.

Draco's stomach was finally empty and he was dry heaving into the toilet, so he grabbed the crackers from Dobby and tried to shove one in his mouth in between heaves. The cracker nearly came out again with the next heave, but Draco caught it with his hand and forced the half chewed cracker back in and managed to swallow a little bit. His heaving calmed down immediately and then he was able to get the other cracker down too. At that point the heaving stopped completely, so he took the glass of water from Dobby and sat down on the bathroom floor to drink it. The floor was cool beneath his naked arse, but he felt flushed and overheated, so it was pleasant.

"Are you alright now? What should I do?" Harry asked, still panicked, but seeing that Draco seemed to be recovering.

"Calm down," Draco replied in between sips of water. He tugged on Harry's arm, encouraging him to sit down with him.

Dobby flushed the toilet and vanished, before returning with a glass of pumpkin juice mixed with the special tea that helped settle upset stomachs. "Draco Malfoy, sir, is drinking his pumpkin juice, sir," Dobby said handing the glass to Draco and taking the one with water back.

Draco took a sip of the pumpkin juice and Dobby vanished again, leaving Draco alone with a still agitated Harry. "Help me up? I want to go back to the sitting room," Draco said. He could have gotten up by himself, but Harry was in the way.

"Yeah, sure," Harry said standing up and offering his arm to Draco.

They went to the sitting room and sat on the couch, Draco still sipping his pumpkin juice. When Draco finished the juice, he set it down on the coffee table and the glass vanished.

"What happened? Are you okay now?" Harry asked nervously.

"Morning sickness; it's always worse after seeing mother," Draco answered.

"Dobby said something about Kreacher not giving you pumpkin juice," Harry replied.

"Yeah, I hate tea. The elves here and at the Manor know to give me pumpkin juice, but Kreacher keeps giving me tea."

"Are you gonna be okay now that you've had your juice?"

"Yeah, probably."

"Do you want me to get you anything?"

Harry felt Draco kill up, brush his teeth, and get dressed. Then they lay together on the couch for ten minutes before Draco sat up.

"It's getting late, we should do you before dinner," Draco said standing up.

"Yeah, okay," Harry replied, hoping that Draco would finger him again, but also somewhat worried about Draco doing it so soon after vomiting and with Draco's earlier emotional breakdown.

Draco and Harry went back into the bedroom. "You do the applicator; I want to look for a spell," Draco said, motioning towards the box of applicators with one hand and digging into the basket on the dresser with the other. He felt completely fine now and wanted to see if there was a spell that would make his fingers longer, so that he could finger Harry's growing hole properly.

"Sure," Harry replied and went to work preparing the stretching potion.

While Draco was looking for the spell card, he came across the potion card, which gave a brief description of each potion in the basket and what it was used for. One potion, the conditioning potion, jumped out at him. "Harry, did you know that we should be using the conditioning potion too?" Draco asked.

"Um, no, not really. Dumbledore mentioned something about it, but I was on information overload that night," Harry answered, setting down his applicator full of stretching potion.

"Here, unskrink it and read the directions, while I find the spell card," Draco said, handing over the small shrunken tub of potion before turning back to the basket.

Harry unshrunk the tub, which turned out to be the same five gallon size as the stretching potion tub, only with a green potion as opposed to the white of the stretching potion, and set to work reading the label with the instructions. "Insert into anal canal after stretching is complete. Allow to sit inside the canal for twenty-four hours or until next stretching session. Should be used regularly, even when stretching is complete. Regular usage will result in stronger, thicker anal walls, more enjoyable anal sex, and anal mucous production," Harry read out loud. It seemed simple enough, so he grabbed another applicator and filled it with the green conditioning potion and set it next to the one he had already filled with the stretching potion.

While Harry was preparing the potions, Draco found the spell card and located a finger extension charm, which would give him longer fingers. Longer fingers would allow him to reach Harry's prostate again and fully stretch Harry's growing arse. Draco went over the wand movements a few times and then practiced pronouncing the charm, before finally preforming it on his fingers. It didn't take the first two times, but on the third go, his fingers increased in length by double. "Freaky," Draco said, looking down at his elongated fingers. They were still his usual width, but much longer, which made them look out of proportion.

"I think it looks hot," Harry replied, stepping forwards and pressing a kiss to Draco's lips. He wasn't sure if Draco was done yet, so he broke the kiss after a few seconds.

"I'm ready, take off your pants," Draco said climbing into the flower strewn bed, still naked from earlier.

"Yeah, okay," Harry replied dropping his pants, and grabbing the filled applicators in one hand and his wand in the other. He cast his three preparatory charms and climbed into the bed after Draco. Harry lay on his stomach with his arse up in his usual position.

"Eager much?" Draco asked getting up and kneeling behind Harry.

"It's so much better when you do it and I'm sooo horny after sucking you off," Harry replied, passing Draco the applicator with the stretching potion.

*censored

Harry collapsed onto flower covered bed. Draco lay down next to Harry and waited. After a few minutes Harry turned over and Draco laughed hysterically at the lilac flowers and rose petals that were glued to Harry's stomach, legs, and genital region.

"What's so funny?" Harry asked confused. Draco continued his mirth, but pointed to Harry's groin. Harry looked down and noticed all of the flowers stuck to him, including a few rose petals that were stuck to his limp cock. "Oh…"

"You've got flowers all over your dick," Draco said, in between fits of giggles.

"I'm so glad I amuse you," Harry replied with a smile. Draco was beautiful and radiant when Draco laughed, which made Harry happy.

"Do you want to take a quick bath?" Draco asked, glancing at the clock on the bedside table. They still had fifteen minutes until dinner.

"Together?" Harry asked hopefully. Draco had never indicated a desire to bathe together before. On the other hand, if Draco meant separately, then Harry would rather just cast a few cleaning charms and be done with it.

"Yeah," Draco replied, thinking about all of the cum that Harry had vanished off of him earlier. Those cleaning charms did the trick, but he would still feel dirty and itchy until he bathed. Pansy had recently noticed that he seemed to be taking extra baths in the evenings and had grown suspicious. She had even accused him of participating in some sort of sexual activity, which he had, but he didn't want Pansy to know about. Therefor he wanted to take more baths in the room of requirement before dinner, so that Pansy wouldn't bug him again.

"Let's go," Harry said jumping up, with his flowers, and holding his hand out for Draco.

Together they walked into the loo. Draco waited nervously while Harry turned on the tap, because had never taken a bath with another person before.

Harry turned around and wrapped Draco in a hug and peppered soft kisses all over his face. "I love you," Harry told Draco. Harry didn't think Draco would say it back, but he still wanted Draco to know.

"I know," Draco replied smugly. He liked being loved by the boy who lived.

Harry let Draco go and sat down in the filling tub. He used the water to quickly brush the flowers off of him and then held out his hand to Draco, saying, "Come in and sit with me."  
Draco removed his pants and stepped into the tub. Draco tried to sit down next to Harry, but Harry had his legs opened and pulled Draco into his lap. It was a little weird sitting in Harry's lap naked, because Draco could feel Harry's soft dick under his arse, but it wasn't too bad and Draco soon relaxed.

Harry grabbed a washcloth, loaded it up with soap, and ran it delicately over Draco's body, starting with Draco's back, chest, and arms, before moving onto Draco's legs and feet. Then Harry handed the cloth to Draco and let Draco do his own genitals and arse, because Harry didn't want to mess it up and ruin their first bath together. When Draco finished washing himself, Draco turned around and ran the sudsy cloth over Harry's chest, returning the favor. Only Draco felt weird washing Harry, so after he did the chest, he handed the cloth over to Harry and let Harry do the rest himself while Draco watched.

Not having a lot of time for their bath, the two boys rinsed off, got out of the tub, and dried themselves with the fluffy white towels. They were getting their clothes organized to put back on when Draco said, "I still need to add the conditioning potion."

Harry retrieve the conditioning potion and handed it to Draco. Harry bent over and Draco insert the potion.

"Do you think I'm gonna find green goo in my pants later?" Harry asked, grabbing his pants and putting them on.

"Yeah, probably," Draco said pulling his school robes on.

The two boys finished dressing and they walked to the door to the room of requirement hand in hand. They shared one more soft kiss.

"I'll see you tomorrow at the usual time," Harry said as Draco left.

* * *

Author's note: I just bought a brand new set of glass/ceramic dishes and threw all my old plastic ones away. Have you heard any of the reports on BPA and Phthalates, the breast cancer causing compounds in plastics that causes pre-pubescent puberty in girls and sterility in men? And just think about all of the poor pet mice and their tumors! The age of puberty keeps getting younger and younger and that's because we keep adding more and more estrogen and estrogen-mimicking pollutants into our environment. This is the second time my daughter has started going through puberty and she's only ten. I was able to stop it the first time four years ago, but now it's back, so the plastics had to go.

Please review!


	29. Chapter 29

Author's Note: This chapter has been censored. If you read the uncensored version on the other site, please don't forget to review!

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Detention Sunday night passed without incident. At breakfast Monday morning, Harry grabbed his usual two apples and put them in his backpack. With Monday being double potions, Harry was exhausted from trying to scrape together a passable potion without the Half Blood Prince's book. He managed, barely, but was left in a somewhat foul mood, as was the entire class; even Hermione and Draco, the best students at potions, had struggled with this one. But life must go on, no matter Harry's mood, so he pulled out his apple in the corridor after class.

"Oi Potty, how was your extended detention with Professor Snape yesterday? Did he make you eviscerate slugs for him?" Draco asked, snatching Harry's apple away and claiming it for himself.

"Hey, I was gonna eat that," Harry protested weakly.

Draco took a large bite out of the apple and replied, "Too late." Then Dracp remembered that he needed to talk to Professor Slughorn about next week's scheduled potion. Professor Snape had pointed out that it would contain belladonna, which was not safe for pregnant people to work with. Thus Draco would have to report his allergy to belladonna and ask to be excused from the assignment or possibly be given a different assignment. "Merlin's pants! Theo, Blaise, I've got to go back and talk to Professor Slughorn."

"We'll go along without you then," Theo replied and Blaise nodded.

Nott and Zabini took off in the direction of their common room, while Draco went back inside the potions classroom. Harry was curious as to what Draco needed to talk to their potions master about, so he dawdled in the corridor, pulling out his second apple to have an excuse to linger.

"I'm beat, let's nick some butterbeers from the kitchen and head up to Gryffindor tower," Ron suggested.

"I don't think that's such a good idea Ron; you may not have arithmancy, but we all still have charms after lunch," Hermione replied, turning to look at Harry and noticing his pre-occupation with the door to the potions classroom. "Harry? Are you spying on Malfoy again?" She was confused about this, because Harry has already admitted to being friends with Malfoy.

"Oi mate, I've got a pair of extendable ears in my bag," Ron suggested, rummaging in his backpack and coming up with a pair of the pink fake ears.

"No, we really shouldn't spy," Harry replied undecidedly, but took the proffered ears and fed the end under the door anyway.

"-er had a student with an allergy to belladonna get into my NEWTs class before. That will greatly limit your potions making potential my boy," Slughorn was saying. "Come to think of it, we just used belladonna when we came back from winter break and you didn't say anything about it then and I certainly didn't notice a reaction."

"It's a new allergy. After class I noticed my hands were red and itchy and I went to Professor Snape. He said it was hives and tested me for allergies. He said it was the belladonna. If you don't believe me, you can ask him yourself," Draco replied.

"I will. You'll still be responsible for the material, of course, but I'll have you write an essay on the potion instead of making it. That is if Professor Snape confirms your allergy," Slughorn replied.

"Thank you sir," Draco replied.

"Quick, put the ears away," Hermione said and Harry pulled the extendable ears back from under the door and Ron shoved them in his backpack.

Harry took a bite of his apple, to look casual and Hermione said, "Oh I really should go in and ask Professor Slughorn about our essay assignment on hiccoughing solution."

"I don't think that's necessary Hermione; we should just go already," Ron replied.

Draco exited the potions classroom to find the three Gryffindors chattering in the hallway. Draco was about to push Harry and continue to his common room, when he noticed the apple Harry was eating; it was identical to the one he still held in his hand from earlier. "You've been having me on Potter?" Draco asked incensed. "What is this, a laugh to you?" Draco threw his apple at Harry's head and waited for a response.

"Ow! No, um, I just thought I would eat two apples this morning," Harry replied, not sure what to do. Harry wanted to get Draco some other snack now that Draco had thrown the first apple, but Harry couldn't break character in front of Ron, who was still clueless as to the whole charade.

"We heard the load of bull you just fed Slughorn. What are you playing at, pretending to be allergic to belladonna?" Ron asked haughtily.

"I'm not playing at anything you filthy blood traitor," Draco replied and glared at Harry, before stalking off to his common room.

"Ron! Why'd you say that?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, Ron, now he knows we were spying on him," Harry added. Harry wanted to follow Draco and explain, but he knew he couldn't, for sake of appearances. Harry would just have to wait until after classes to explain.

"But he called me a filthy blood traitor," Ron protested.

"It doesn't matter, come on, let's go or I'm going to be late to class," Hermione replied leading the three of them down the hall. They split up when Hermione turned to go to her arithmancy class and Ron and Harry went back to their common room.

Harry went straight to his dorm and sat on his bed. He didn't get anything done during his free period before lunch, because of his worry over Draco. Would Draco be mad at Harry later? Between the apple thing and the eaves dropping, Draco had plenty to be mad about. And why was Draco pretending to be allergic to belladonna? It sounded like Snape was in on it, so could it be something related to the baby? If so, Harry couldn't figure out what. And Draco didn't get his snack today…

Then there was the slew of worry left over from yesterday. Thdere was Draco's strange behavior with the crying. Would there be more crying today? There was the botched proposal; would Draco ever forgive him for that day in the loo? When they told their child the story of his conception, would Draco tell their son that Draco had been raped? Would Draco always hold that mistake against Harry? Would their son hate Harry for what he did to Draco?

The worry and emotional stress was getting to be too much for Harry. He broke down and started crying silently, turning to smash his face into his pillow. And as luck would have it, that was how Hermione found Harry when she came looking for him to go to lunch.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione asked, sitting on the edge of Harry's bed and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Now that he had an audience, Harry sucked it up, sat up, and attempted to act like he wasn't an emotional wreck. "Nothing," Harry lied. It was one of the worst lies he had ever told, as evidenced by the tear tracks still fresh on his cheeks.

"Harry, you can tell me. Let me help you with this. Whatever it is, your secret is safe with me. Whatever you say won't leave this room," Hermione promised.

"Okay," Harry replied, trying to figure out how much to tell her. She knew about his friendship with Draco. She knew half of the bathroom incident. He would just have to make it work. "It's about Draco."

"Does it have anything to do with what happened this morning?"

"Yes and no. It's more about what happened yesterday, during our occlumency practice."

"What happened?"

"Well I thought we were friends. We've been getting on like we were for almost a month now."

"And?" Hermione encouraged him to continue.

"And he informed me that he's not there yet. He's willing to be friendly with me, but we're not friends, because he still can't get past that day I almost killed him in the loo."

"Oh Harry! It was an accident!"

"I know and he knows. He told me he understands, but he said he just needs more time, Hermione."

"Then give him more time. It's only been a month; near death experiences take longer than that to get over."

"Yeah, you're right."

"I'm sure you'll be proper friends in a few more months Harry."

"Yeah, thanks Hermione."

"So is that why you were spying on him this morning?"

"Yeah."

Hermione gave Harry a friendly hug. Since they were now late for lunch, the two friends went down to the Great Hall, and sat next to Ron. During lunch Harry continually glanced over to the Slytherin table to try to figure out how Draco was doing. Draco seemed to be eating and talking to his friends.

"Malfoy's up to something again," Ron said, noticing Harry watching Draco again.

"He's just trying to get out of work next week," Harry replied, trying to brush Ron off. The last thing he needed was Ron to follow Draco around and find out that Draco was sneaking off to see Harry.

"Let Professor Slughorn worry about it," Hermione said, ending the discussion for the time being. She then went on to talk about their essay assignment for herbology that was due tomorrow.

Class after lunch passed smoothly and then Harry was finally free to go meet Draco in the room of requirement. Draco was already there and Harry found Draco sitting on the beach, so Harry walked over and joined Draco.

"I'm sorry about this morning. I didn't want to eavesdrop, but Ron doesn't know what's going on and he wanted to and I couldn't think of a way to stop that wouldn't look suspicious," Harry said. It was a half-truth, because Harry did want to stop, but he also wanted to eavesdrop just as much as Ron and Harry really hadn't tried to stop it.

"What if he had been eavesdropping on me and Professor Snape? What if he found out about the baby?" Draco asked looking down at his hands in the sand. He was scooping up handfuls of sand and letting the grains fall through his fingers.

"I'll put a stop to it. I've told him several times now that you're not up to anything and that we're not gonna spy on you anymore. I'll just have to talk to him again. But why are you lying to Slughorn about being allergic?" Harry asked.

"Belladonna is a poison Harry; it's dangerous for the baby," Draco answered.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"What if Weasley finds out?"

"He won't. Hermione will be the one to figure it out, if anything, and she'll come to me first. She already knows to keep what I've told her about you a secret."

"Yeah, okay. And how long have you've been having a laugh with your friends over me with the apples?" Draco asked.

"Just today and Friday. I had to step up the ruse or Ron would've retaliated. He was getting mad at you for taking my apple every day. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings."

"Yeah, well don't be such as arse next time."

"Did you at least get a snack today?" Harry asked concerned.

"Dobby brought me an egg sandwich, which was disgusting, so I threw it out. Then he brought me kippers, which made me dry heave, so he took them back. Then he brought me a nectarine and Pansy noticed and asked me why the elves were bringing me snacks. I told her I was hungry and asked for one, but she's still suspicious, I can tell. She was asking me about my ring too."

"I'm sorry," Harry said, taking Draco into a hug. "What did you tell her about the ring?"

"Just a little token from one of my many admirers, but I hinted that it was from mother." Pansy had asked if his ring was from mother and Draco had denied it with the sort of obvious smirk that meant he was lying and it really was from mother.

"Good."

"My back hurts," Draco said. Maybe it was the puking yesterday or maybe it was just the pregnancy in general, but he had woken up in the middle of the night with a back ache and it hadn't gone away yet and was part of the reason for his bad mood.

"Let me give you a massage," Harry requested.

"Yeah, alright," Draco replied taking off his school robes and lying down on his stomach in the sand, wearing only his pants. He kept his head up out of the sand by propping himself up with his arms.

Harry wanted lotion, but he didn't have any and couldn't remember the spell he had read about in his sex book, so he had to settle for rubbing Draco's back with just his hands. Harry started on those beautiful broad shoulders and then worked his way down Draco's spine.

Harry's hands on Draco's back felt wonderful, causing Draco to moan in pleasure as the pain slowly ebbed away. The pain vanished and Draco let Harry continue rubbing him, just to enjoy the wonderful sensations traveling through his body.

"Is that good?" Harry asked after ten minutes. With the way Draco was moaning, Harry couldn't take much more or he'd be whipping out his cock and masturbating right here and now.

"Yeah, it's better," Draco replied sitting up.

"Great!" Harry replied, hopeful that Draco might have forgiven him.

"Yeah, well, I fancy a snorkel. You coming?" Draco asked. Snorkeling was one of his favorite things to do and was just the sort of soothing activity he wanted to engage in right now.

"Yeah," Harry replied jumping up and getting the snorkel gear.

Draco summoned both their swim trunks and changed right there on the beach, leaving his pants with his robes in the sand. Harry, newly returned with the snorkel gear, did the same, leaving his clothes next to Draco's.

Harry and Draco went snorkeling and saw a lot of fish, including a shark, but the shark didn't bother them, so they just kept going. When they returned to shore forty-five minutes later they were both in a better mood, having forgotten about the earlier debacle in the corridor. Draco was smiling and Harry smiled back at him, taking him into his arms and snogging him until he was panting for breath.

The kiss was hot, passionate, and intense. Draco's heart was beating out of his chest and he could hear his pulse pounding in his ears again. His breathing came in short panting breaths and every neuron in his body tingled with magic. And so when Draco felt Harry pulling his trunks, he didn't complain. Draco did, however, loose his balance and fall backwards onto the sand.

"Oh Merlin, are you okay Draco !?" Harry asked in alarm, quickly following his boyfriend down onto the sand.

Draco felt fine, so he grabbed Harry's hand and guided it to where he wanted it and he lay back in the sand.

Harry took the hint and began wanking Draco. Then Harry pulled his wand out, cast his two oral spells on his mouth.

*censored

Afterwards Draco seemed like a spineless mush, lying in the sand, just enjoying the afterglow.

"Come on, I'll carry you to the bed," Harry said, not wanting Draco to fall asleep in the sand. Draco nodded, so Harry cast a lightening charm on Draco, picked Draco up, carried Draco into the bedroom, and laid Draco down in the bed. Draco was a bit sandy and that transferred to the bed, so Harry cast a cleaning charm to get rid of the sand and a finite, to stop the lightening charm.

Draco fell asleep in the bed and Harry went to the study, to do his homework. But when Harry got to the study, he realized that Draco's desk was still covered in opened books and half-finished parchment. Not wanting to disturb Draco's desk, Harry required the room to provide him with a second desk, next to Draco's. It did and Harry quickly set about doing his homework.

Draco woke up an hour later, used the loo, and found Harry doing his homework at a new desk in the study. "Come back to bed with me?" Draco requested sweetly, touching Harry's shoulder with his hand. Draco wanted to snuggle and Harry still needed his arse stretched.

"Yeah," Harry replied, quickly abandoning his school work in favor of spending time with Draco.

Harry and Draco went back to the bedroom where Harry filled both applicators, while Draco lay down in bed, waiting for Harry. "Forward much?" Draco asked as Harry cast the three spells to prepare Harry's arse.

"Well we have less than an hour left. Isn't this what you wanted to do?" Harry asked, crawling onto the bed with his filled applicators and setting them on the nightstand.

"Yeah, but I wanted to cuddle first," Draco replied.

"Yeah, I'd cuddle with you anytime," Harry replied, sitting on the bed with his back leaned against the headboard. "Come here." Harry pulled Draco into his arms. Draco sat on Harry's lap with his head and back against Harry's left arm and Harry's right arm wrapped around him. "I love you."

"I know," Draco replied, laying his head against Harry's naked chest.

Harry kissed Draco passionately, hoping to speed along the foreplay process until his genitals were getting some kind of attention.

Hot passionate kisses generally left Draco feeling good, but right now he was sated and a bit tired, from having cum. Draco pushed Harry's mouth away and said, "Let me finger you."

"Yeah, okay," Harry replied letting Draco scoot off of his lap so that he could assume his usual position.

"Where are the applicators?" Draco asked.

"The nightstand," Harry answered.

*censored

After Harry came, Draco pulled his fingers out and lay down next to Harry.

* * *

Author's Note: I'd like to give a shout out to BlackDawgFang for reviewing!

Please review!


	30. Chapter 30

Author's Notes: No censorship was needed in this chapter- read on to see why.

* * *

Tuesday morning started off the same as any other morning, with breakfast at the Gryffindor table and Harry slipping two apples into his backpack for later. Defense against the dark arts went okay. Sure Snape took five points from Gryffindor because Ron was caught doodling in class, but other than that, it was fine. The only thing unusual was when Snape requested, "Mr. Potter, you are to stay after class."

What could Snape want? Harry had seen him seven days a week for at least three hours straight for the last month in detentions. The last thing Harry needed was _more_ time with Snape. And if Snape had something to tell him, why couldn't he just wait until that night's detention? But Harry had no choice in the matter, so he told Ron and Hermione, "Just go ahead without me, I'll find you."

"I'm going to ancient runes. Are you going to the library like I suggested Ron?" Hermione asked, grabbing her backpack.

"Yeah, but I'll wait in the hall for Harry," Ron replied, also grabbing his backpack and leaving.

Harry made sure all of his things were neatly packed away while he waited for the last students to clear out of the room.

Once the door closed behind the last student, Snape said, "Mr. Potter, I have spoken with Mr. Binns. He'll be here to meet with you in detention tonight, after Draco leaves of course. Will this be alright with you?"

"Yes sir, that's wonderful. Does he have the ring or the contract ready?" Harry asked.

"I do not know; I only know that he is coming. Is there anything else Mr. Potter?" Snape asked.

"No sir, I'll just be going now. Thank you sir," Harry added the last bit in after the fact when it suddenly dawned on him that Snape had gone out of his way to help him, so a little bit of appreciation was due.

Moments before Harry opened the door to the potions classroom to leave, he heard a scream of rage and a cry of pain and a loud thud. Harry threw the door open and Snape jumped up from his desk, rushing towards the door to see what was happening. Harry was horrified by what he found: Ron was standing over Draco, who was curled up on his side in the fetal position on the ground. Ron was punching Draco. Draco had his arms wrapped around his lower stomach and was crying.

"Get off him Ron!" Harry screamed and lunged himself at Ron, knocking Ron off of Draco. Harry wanted to go to Draco, but he also needed to hold Ron back and Snape was already rushing to Draco's side.

"Why'd you stop me?" Ron asked confused. He finally had Malfoy right where he wanted him.

"Are you daft?" Harry asked.

"What? Draco, he's faking!" Ron accused.

"Mr. Potter, please get the door for me," Snape said, picking Draco up in his arms like an overly large baby. "Mr. Weasley, please leave. I will contact you later with your punishment."

"Go Ron," Harry seethed, jumping up to get the door for Snape.

Snape carried Draco inside his classroom and Harry followed, shutting the door behind them.

"Lock it," Snape said, not wanting any stray students wandering in on this. He didn't have another class for an hour, but students were always popping in uninvited.

Harry cast a few locking charms on the door and followed Snape deeper into the classroom. Snape lay Draco down on his desk and pulled up Draco's robes to inspect Draco. Draco fought Snape a bit, not wanting to move his arms from his aching stomach. The pain was intense and Draco had barely registered that it was Professor Snape with him now, instead of the blood traitor.

Harry gasped in horror as he saw Draco's stomach. There was a little pink nub an inch and a half below Draco's belly button. The nub was growing and pulsating and bleeding.

"Get my bag," Snape directed Harry, pointing at his potions bag on the floor on the other side of the desk. Snape didn't dare leave Draco, in case Draco might fall.

Harry got the bag and set it on the chair behind the desk, within Snape's reach. Harry opened it up and asked, "Which one?"

"This one," Snape replied, grabbing a sparkly blue potion, uncorking it, and forcing it down Draco's throat. Once that was down Snape grabbed a red one and repeated the procedure. And then Snape added a purple potion too.

"Draco sweetie, can you hear me?" Harry asked looking into Draco's eyes. They looked scared and in pain and tears still leaked out. "It's gonna be okay. Professor Snape is fixing you; you just have to take a few potions."

Draco took in another gasp of breath, but made no move to indicate that he had heard Harry.

"He should stabilize now and then I can move him. Do you have your invisibility cloak Mr. Potter?" Snape asked.

"Yeah, what happened?" Harry asked.

"He went into labor and almost lost the baby. I'll have to run more test to see how he's doing, but I gave him a potion to stop the labor, another one to stop the bleeding, and the third was a simple calming draught. Now can I borrow your cloak to transport Mr. Malfoy to my office for further treatment?" Snape asked calmly.

"Yes, yes, of course," Harry replied going to his backpack and pulling out his cloak. Harry walked quickly back over to the front of the room and handed the cloak to Snape.

"Draco, I am going to wrap you in Harry's invisibility cloak to move you, so that no one can see you. I am going to cast a silencing charm on you, so that no one will be able to hear you, either. Do not panic; we will be in my office soon enough," Snape said and waited for a response.

Draco gave a faint nod, so Snape cast the silencing charm and wrapped Draco in the invisibility cloak. "Get all our bags Mr. Potter and follow me," Snape said.

Snape waited for Harry to grab Snape's potions bag and Harry's own backpack. Harry was rushing to follow Snape's commands as quickly as possible, but Harry did get detoured when he noticed Draco's textbook on the floor under the seat Draco had been sitting in earlier. Harry grabbed it, shoved it in his backpack and walked to the door to get Draco's school bag from the corridor.

When Harry approached the locked door, Snape picked Draco up and said, "Open the door for me."

Harry complied and unlocked the door and then held it open for Draco and Snape. Once they were through the door, Harry grabbed Draco's school bag from where it had fallen on the floor and ran to catch up with his quick-footed professor. Harry was never so glad that Professor Snape could move quickly than he was right then. They encountered a few second years with questioning looks- Snape was quite the sight carrying an obviously large and heavy invisible object- but they were otherwise unmolested on their trip down to the dungeons.

Harry held open the door to Professor Snape's office and locked it behind them once Snape and Draco were through. Then Harry followed after Snape to the examination table, where Snape set Draco down, pulled the invisibility cloak off and cast a finite to remove the silencing spell. "I'm going to strap him in, so he doesn't fall," Snape explained as he cast a spell to add restraints to the table. "Now I'm going to run some diagnostic tests. I recommend you hold his hand."

Harry did as told, standing by Draco's side and holding Draco's hand. Draco's face looked sleepy, but still scared, worried, and in pain. At least Draco was no longer crying. 'Must be the calming draught,' Harry thought to himself.

Harry stood there holding Draco's hand for what felt like forever. Harry's legs were cramping up, not just from standing there, but also from the tension. Waiting and not knowing how bad it was, that was the worst part. Harry didn't know what to do to comfort Draco either. Harry whispered in Draco's ear that he loved Draco, that their baby was going to be okay, and that Professor Snape was fixing Draco. But Harry didn't know how helpful that was and in the end he just had to wait.

Snape, having finally finished his diagnostic tests and corresponding treatments, cleaned the blood off of Draco's abdomen, leaving just a bit of blood on the second cervix. Snape then pulled over his chair and sat down to rest.

"How is he?" Harry asked.

"Stable. Both Mr. Malfoy and the baby are stable. I stopped the bleeding and the issue of the tear in the uterine lining has been fixed. The baby is alive. I stopped the labor, but I can't seem to reverse it. He is just going to be stuck with the second cervix there for the duration," Snape answered.

"So he'll be okay?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy and his child will be okay if no further incidents like this occur. If, however, he goes into labor again, it will pick up where I stopped it, meaning that it will occur more quickly. At this early stage labor can progress quite rapidly."

"So if Ron hits him again, he could miscarry quickly?" Harry asked.

"Precisely Mr. Potter. Also his magical energy is very low from dealing with the trauma. A constant supply of magic is needed for the embryo in a Peverell pregnancy, so it would be best if you could donate some of your magic to transfer to him."

"Yes, how do I do it?" Harry asked.

"You're already doing it; just keep physical contact with him and it will transfer automatically. Now I need to inform the headmaster of the situation and post a notice for my next class and someone needs to stay here and keep an eye on Mr. Malfoy. I can excuse you from the rest of your classes today if you would be agreeable."

"Yes, please let me stay with him."

"Very well. I have set up a temporary charm to empty his bladder for him, so he won't have to get up. If he needs to eat or drink, you will have to call a house elf. Keep physical skin to skin contact to transfer your magic to him. Encourage him to sleep as much as possible and don't let him get up or make sudden movements. If anything changes, find me immediately. I'll come back as soon as possible," Snape said.

"Yes sir," Harry replied.

Snape gathered his potions bag, replenished the potions he used earlier, and then left another set of those same potions on a side table near the examination table. "The blue one stops contractions. The red one stops and heals bleeding. The purple one is a calming draught. If he's bleeding, give him the red one. If that cervix starts fluttering again, give him the blue one; keep his robes up like they are now so you can watch it. If he's agitated, give him the purple one. Then come find me," Snape instructed.

"Yes sir," Harry said, knowing that his map was in his backpack and that he would have no trouble finding Snape.

Snape left, warding the door behind him.

Harry wanted to hold Draco, but he didn't dare move Draco, so he stood by Draco's side a while longer before pulling the chair over. Draco had fallen asleep while Harry and Snape were talking, so Harry pulled out a textbook to read, but he couldn't concentrate. Harry found himself reading the same sentence over and over again. He closed the book with a huff, dropped it on top of his backpack, because it was just too difficult to put away one handed; Harry's left hand was still holding Draco's hand as Draco slept. With reading out of the question, Harry contented himself to watching Draco. Harry focused on memorizing every detail of Draco's face while he waited for Snape to return.

All at once Draco's eyes shot wide open, Draco's face contorted in pain, Draco let out an anguished wail, and Draco's arms shot out to wrap around his stomach, yanking free of Harry's hand and drawing Harry's eyes to the second cervix, which was now fluttering again. Harry watched as the bloody nub of flesh contracted and relaxed and Harry didn't even wait for it to contract a second time, before he was out of his seat, grabbing the blue potion and holding it up to Draco's lips.

"You gotta drink this," Harry said as he tipped the potion into Draco's mouth. "Please work. Please, Merlin, please stop it. You're gonna be alright Draco."

Draco swallowed the potion quickly and Harry thought it had worked, because there was a stutter and then a pause in the contracting movement of the second cervix. Harry watched it with relief as he tried to determine if there was any new blood or if the calming draught had worn out, because in either case, Draco would need another potion. There was still blood on the cervix, especially right there in the middle, but it certainly hadn't dripped down and Harry didn't think any of it was fresh. Draco was still groaning in pain and clutching his abdomen, but it was more subdued and Draco's eyes were closed now.

Just as Harry thought he wouldn't need to give Draco another potion, the second cervix fluttered again and then resumed its cycle of contracting and releasing. Draco let out another scream of pain and Draco's legs pulled up to his chest as his arms flailed. Then Draco grabbed hold of Harry's hand and squeezed so tightly Harry could've sworn he heard bones cracking. Harry didn't know what to do, because he'd already given Draco the blue potion and Snape wasn't back yet, so Harry began to panic.

"Draco, you have to let my hand go! I've gotta go find Snape!" Harry pleaded and began prying Draco's fingers off of his hand.

Draco was holding onto Harry for dear life, so Harry had only managed to extract two of the fingers from his hand when he heard the door open and Professor Snape rush through. By the time Harry turned his head to look, Snape was already by his side.

"What's happening?" Snape asked as he observed Draco and noticed the contractions of the second cervix. Snape looked over to where he'd left the potions and noticed that the blue one was gone. Before Harry even had a chance to respond, Snape was rushing into his potion storeroom, black robes billowing behind him, and thinking about which one to try next.

"I gave him the blue one! He drank it all, but it just won't stop! I was trying to get to you, but I can't get my hand away from Draco!" Harry exclaimed, emotionally distraught.

"How long has this been going on?" Snape barked out his question, choosing one of each of five types of potions that were effective at stopping labor contractions, including another vial of the blue one Draco had had twice now. Snape wanted them all at hand in case the next one didn't work.

"Only a few minutes! I gave him the blue potion right away and then I was trying to get my hand away and you came!" Harry answered as Snape returned with more potions.

Snape breathed out a sigh of relief that he wasn't too late and picked out the next best choice of potion, since the blue one hadn't worked. Snape tipped the green potion into Draco's mouth and said, "Swallow, Mr. Malfoy, you need to swallow it," while he massaged Draco's throat in an effort to encourage his patient to swallow.

Draco swallowed and seconds later, the second cervix stopped fluttering. Draco's eyes closed again and his wails of pain switched to quiet sobs, while Professor Snape repeated his diagnostic spells and Harry stood there on edge, clutching Draco's hand now that Draco was no longer actively clutching Harry's hand.

Harry felt like each moment of waiting for Snape to finish casting was agony. The not knowing how the baby was doing or if the baby was even still alive, was torture. And then Snape finally, finally lowered his wand and said, "Stable. Mr. Malfoy and the baby are once again stable and the contractions have stopped."

"Thank you sir," Harry said gratefully, relaxing slightly with the news.

"I gave my fourth years the day off, so I have next hour free to monitor Mr. Malfoy," Snape said.

Snape went back to his potion store room and grabbed another vial of the green potion and put it on the end table next to Draco. Then Snape pulled up a second chair and sat down. Harry copied Snape, sitting in the other chair.

Harry and Professor Snape sat by Draco's side and just watched as Draco slept. When Draco didn't stir in the next forty-five minutes, Professor Snape said, "I think he's stabilized for good this time. I need to teach my class or it will look suspicious and we can't have this getting back to the Dark Lord, but someone _must_ stay with Mr. Malfoy. I could get Professor Dumbledore to come and that would probably be the best solution medically. But Mr. Malfoy has a dislike for the headmaster and it would cause him undue stress to have Professor Dumbledore here right now. Perhaps, if you feel up to it, the best solution would be for you to watch him."

"Yes, please, I'll watch him real close and I'll come get you right away if there's a problem," Harry promised.

"These five potions here are the only ones I have available in the school that have any chance of being effective against pre-term labor, so if you give him all of these and they don't stop it, then there's nothing that can be done. I've already given him the blue and the green and it's best not to mix too many of them, so if it starts again, give him the blue first. Then if that doesn't work, proceed to the green, then aqua, then orange, and leave the brown one here for last. And since I know how poor your memory is, I'll line them up in order. Don't give him more of them than he needs to stop it, because they each have their possible side effects," Professor Snape said, lining the potions up in the order he wanted Harry to try them.

"Yes sir," Harry said, running over the order of the potions in his head over and over again, in an attempt to memorize them.

"It'll only be an hour until lunch and then I'll be back. Remember, only Professor Dumbledore can know," Snape said.

Harry nodded his understanding and then Snape was gone, warding the doors on his way out. Harry was once more left alone with Draco, but this time Draco didn't wake up and although Harry kept a very close watch on that second cervix, it never fluttered, not even once.

* * *

Author's Note: Next chapter should contain Narcissa's arrival as well as Harry confronting Ron, which I had originally planned for this chapter.

Please review!


	31. Chapter 31

Author's Notes: No censorship was needed in this chapter.

* * *

Snape came back at lunch time, as he promised and checked on them, but Draco was still sleeping and nothing had changed. "Go to lunch Mr. Potter and I'll watch him," Snape offered.

"No, I don't want to leave him. What if he wakes up while I'm gone? You go ahead," Harry replied.

"Then we'll both stay," Snape said, before calling Dobby and requesting lunch.

Dobby delivered a tray of roast beef sandwiches and Professor Snape took one to his desk to eat. Harry was too worried to eat, so he just stayed by Draco's side and held Draco's hand.

When the lunch hour was nearly up, Snape performed one last check on Draco, before saying, "I have class again, but I'll be back at three, if you're still amenable to watching Mr. Malfoy."

"Yes," Harry replied.

And so Snape left. Draco woke up a few hours later and was hungry and Harry brought over the tray of sandwiches and pumpkin juice from earlier.

They ate in relative silence. Then Draco started crying, so Harry wrapped an arm around Draco as best he could without moving Draco. "Don't worry, the baby is okay and I'm gonna kill Ron," Harry soothed.

"Painfully. You better do it painfully or I won't have my proper revenge," Draco whispered, trying not to cry, but he let out a sob anyway.

"Oh, believe me, I will make it painful. I've suddenly got a whole new appreciation for torture," Harry replied.

"He attacked me. I was coming back to get my book. I saw him waiting in the corridor outside the classroom and called him some name, but I didn't do anything to him!" Draco cried.

"I know. He's an uncivilized Neanderthal and I won't let him near you or the baby again."

Draco continued to cry and Harry tried to think of something else he could say. Then Harry remembered the book, "I found your book by the way. It's in my backpack, but I'll move it to your bag now." Harry got up to move the book and then returned to Draco's side, taking his hand once more.

"I want mother."

"I'll ask Professor Snape when he gets back, but I can't leave you to go get her."

"Mother would read to me. I've got a novel in my school bag."

"Yeah, I could read to you," Harry replied, getting up to retrieve Draco's school bag.

Harry was digging through Draco's bag looking for a novel when Harry found a likely candidate, which Draco confirmed. And so Harry found the place Draco had last left off and began to read. Harry read for half an hour before Snape came back.

"How are you feeling Mr. Malfoy?" Snape asked.

"Like I've just been squeezed out of a troll's hairy arse. When can I get down?" Draco asked.

"A few days bed rest would be best, but I could move you to my personal quarters, if you'd be more comfortable. You could move around more, but you still should not get out of bed for another day at least. Even then, you're better off not walking until you heal completely. That could be a week or more," Snape answered.

"I want mother," Draco replied.

"I could take you to headquarters, but then it would be harder for me to monitor you. I could bring her here, but she'd have to stay hidden in my quarters," Snape replied.

"She doesn't know I'm pregnant yet," Draco replied.

"We can tell her," Harry said.

"Yes, it would seem Mr. Potter is correct in that we will have to tell your mother. Perhaps I'll fetch your mother and then move you to my quarters," Snape suggested.

"Yeah," Draco replied.

"Should I tell her before I bring her here or would you like to tell her?" Snape asked.

"You tell her," Draco answered.

"Very well," Snape said before flooing to Grimmauld Place.

Harry resumed his reading to Draco. Snape was gone for a long time, but then Harry was counting every minute in anticipation and dread, so the time passed more slowly. What would Narcissa say when she found out about the baby? That it was Harry's baby? About the near-miscarriage? About Harry's so-called friend causing the near-miscarriage? At this point, there was no way it could be good. Harry was glad that Draco had given Snape permission to tell Draco's mum everything; it would save Draco having to witness the brunt of the negative reaction.

Snape returned materializing in the fireplace, followed by Draco's mum. Narcissa Malfoy had a serious face of grim determination when she came into the room. But when she walked over to Draco, she had a small smile for him. "It's going to be okay my Dragon, mother's here now," she said gently and kindly.

"Mr. Potter you may go. Please have Mr. Weasley report to my office in one hour," Snape said dismissing Harry.

"Please sir? Can't I stay with Draco?" Harry pleaded.

"No, I am taking the Malfoys to my personal quarters and I cannot permit you inside. I will summon you if anything changes and I will see you back here for detention tonight," Snape replied.

"What about his magical signature? I still want to donate my magic to him," Harry protested.

Snape cast a diagnostic spell before replying, "You've been with him for hours; his magical signature is back to normal."

Harry saw no way out of it. Harry let Snape borrow his cloak again to hide Draco. Narcissa pulled up a hood over her head, so that she would be less noticeable, and then the four of them left Snape's office. Harry followed the three Slytherins to Snape's quarters, which were only just down the corridor. Snape returned Harry's cloak, but again refused to grant Harry entrance, so Harry was left alone.

Normally at this time Harry would be going to visit Draco in the room of requirement, but now that Draco was incapacitated, Harry had nowhere to go but back to Gryffindor tower; Gryffindor tower where Harry's so-called best friend was. Suddenly Harry was running as fast as he could. He ran past students and didn't stop to explain himself to Filch; he just ran, his feet pounding on the hard stone of the castle floors. He spat the password to the Fat Lady and barreled through the still opening portrait hole.

"Harry! Where have you been?" Hermione called in the common room, but after an initial scan of the room failed to return Ron, Harry continued on, running up the stairs to the boy's dormitory.

Hermione was following behind Harry, but she couldn't keep up with his sprinting, so he reached the door to their room well before her. Harry pushed it open, saw Ron on his bed trimming his broom, and lunged. Harry punched Ron in the head and in the stomach and then several more of each, before Hermione came in and tried to pull Harry off of Ron. Harry fought on and got in a few more jabs, but Ron was fighting back and Hermione was in the middle and Harry didn't want her to get hurt.

"Harry, what has gotten into you?" Hermione asked in exasperation.

"Ronald!" Harry spat, retreating a few feet and trying to get his composure. He would have to say something and he needed his composure to figure out what to say.

"What did I do? This can't be about my little fight with Malfoy this morning, can it? I thought you'd be happy I got him back for stealing all those apples from you!" Ron exclaimed.

"Ronald, what did you do to Malfoy?" Hermione asked. "I thought we agreed not to touch him!"

"So you didn't tell her, huh? You're pathetic," Harry spat.

"I only punched him a few times! It was nothing he didn't deserve a million times over," Ron replied.

"He almost had a miscarriage you prat! He deserved that a million times over!?" Harry asked flying at Ron again, hoping to knock Ron out.

"Harry! Stop it, we've got to talk about this, before someone notices and comes in here," Hermione hissed.

That got Harry's attention and he pulled himself off of Ron and went back to his own side of the room.

"What do you mean he almost had a miscarriage? He's not even pregnant!" Ron replied indignantly.

Hermione looked to Harry and asked, "Is he?" Harry nodded. "But I thought you said it was his girlfriend who's pregnant?"

"I lied. Malfoy's gay and a Peverell; he's the one who's pregnant, but you can't tell anyone," Harry confirmed, hating himself for going against Draco's wishes and telling, but it was already too late, because he'd blurted the truth out without thinking. The least Harry could do now was lie some more and come up with a good cover.

"And his boyfriend?" Hermione asked.

"A Hufflepuff halfblood. His boyfriend couldn't even sit with him, without blowing his cover. I stayed with him instead, to keep him company," Harry explained with a lie.

"Is he alright?" Hermione asked.

"Snape was able to stop it, twice, but Draco's on bed rest for now. He was bleeding, but Snape stopped that too. His magical energy was dangerously low, but I donated some of mine," Harry answered.

"Well Ronald?" Hermione asked.

"I had no idea he was pregnant! I was just trying to get him back for stealing your apples," Ron protested.

"I was giving him the apples to eat because he's pregnant! We had to lie, so that no one would know we're friends now," Harry revealed.

"Oh," Ron replied lamely.

"Yes, oh. You almost killed an innocent baby and all you can say is, 'oh.' You mum's gonna love that when she hears it," Harry replied.

"Well if I had, at least there would be one less Malfoy in the world," Ron replied, not understanding why Harry was so upset over Malfoy.

Harry stepped forward and got in a good swing at Ron's head. Having reached his limit of blows to the head for the day, Ron passed out, which Harry found rather satisfying.

"Harry! You've got to stop doing that! Now we've got to take him to the hospital wing," Hermione replied.

"No we don't, just leave him." Harry went to his trunk and gathered some of his things.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked.

"Packing."

"Why? You're not leaving the school are you?"

"I'm not staying in here with him; I'll be sleeping in the room of requirement tonight," Harry said getting a few last things. He had a change of clothes and all of his school things.

"Are you sure we should leave Ron like this? What if he dies?"

"At this point I couldn't care less, but he won't die. Look at him, he's still breathing," Harry said, before walking out the door. He'd probably care later, when he was comforting Mrs. Weasley at Ron's funeral, but right now Harry couldn't care about Ron when Harry was still so worried over Draco and the baby.

"Fine, wait for me, I'm coming with you," Hermione said, following Harry.

They walked in silence until they got to the room of requirement. Harry put his backpack down on the coffee table, before going into the nursery to get the green sea turtle stuffed animal; Harry really wanted something to hold that would remind him of Draco and the baby right now. When Harry went to the nursery room, he saw the vase of flowers from Sunday still on the table by the rocking chair and the stuffed turtle on the floor by the chair. Harry stopped, picked up the turtle, and sat down in the rocking chair.

Hermione followed Harry into the nursery. "It changed," Hermione said, referring to the color change, from yellow to indigo.

"Yeah, Draco changed it," Harry replied.

"That must have been really scary for you today, almost losing your baby," Hermione said.

"Yeah," Harry replied without thinking about how Hermione had worded it. But then he did process her words. "You mean Draco's baby, right? We've grown to be friends and I don't know what I'd do if he lost his baby because of Ron."

"Harry, I know you're the father. Only the biological father could give a magical donation," Hermione revealed.

"I didn't know that," Harry replied.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone, but why didn't you tell me?" Hermione asked.

"He told me not to tell anyone, unless they know occlumency. You hadn't even asked Snape to start teaching you last time we were in here."

"I understand and I'm going to be here for you and for Draco too if he'll let me. I'm sure that he can't be all bad if he's dating you."

"No, he's actually really nice and sweet most of the time."

"What Ron said before you hit him the last time was uncalled for. I don't think I'm going to talk to him again; for a while at least. Well first I have to make sure he knows not to blab, but then I'm not talking to him."

"You mean the part where he said my baby was better off dead?"

"Yes, that part. No baby is better off dead, least of all yours. I'm sure he'll be wonderful, even if he turns out a little pointy."

"I'm hoping for the grey eyes, actually," Harry replied, not quite smiling, but not as solemn as he was before.

"He'll be adorable no matter who he looks like. If you ever need any help with Draco or the baby, just let me know. I can help with Ron too."

"Yeah, there are loads of things you can help with. You helped me before with the catalogs and explaining all this stuff to me. Draco was really happy when he saw it all later that day."

"You mean the room made it for you, not Draco?" Hermione asked smiling.

"Yeah, the room only ever made one room for him."

"The loo?" Hermione asked. The loo was large, lavish, and poncy in a way she couldn't imagine Harry asking for.

"No, the study."

"There's a study? You have to show me," Hermione requested, walking out to the hallway, so Harry followed, taking the stuffed turtle with him.

"It's that door on the right there."

"Wow," Hermione said walking into the room and seeing all the books.

Harry followed her and sat down on his desk chair, placing the turtle on his desk, as he watched what she did. Draco still had books and parchment covering his desk and Harry didn't want Hermione to disturb it.

"No wonder you want to spend all your time in here!"

"Yes, it's the study, not the personal bedroom and loo."

"I'm sure they're nice too, although I haven't seen much of it

"Do you want to go for a walk in the lilac forest?" Harry asked. He could use a walk to clear his head right about now.

"Yeah, if that's what you want to do. I'd rather go for a swim at the beach, but this hardly seems the time."

"Yeah, not right now; maybe another time," Harry said walking out of the study.

"Maybe on the weekend, if Draco's feeling better, you can invite me over?" Hermione suggested, following behind Harry.

"Yeah, maybe. We'll see," Harry replied.

The two of them went for a nice walk in the lilac forest and continued to chat. "Harry there's just one thing I don't understand," Hermione said as they walked.

"Just one?"

"Well yes. Draco and you are both gay, so he's obviously the boy you've had a crush on and you're the halfblood he's been seeing. The occlumency sessions weren't just occlumency lessons, but dates. But what I don't get involves what you told me yesterday: Draco's still holding a grudge over the bathroom thing. I was thinking that you two had to have fallen in love in that bathroom and that's probably where the baby came from; either that or before then. Although, it couldn't have been much before that; you were still following him around obsessing over him before that. And if it's the case that you guys, you know, in the bathroom, then how come you almost killed him later? And why is he holding a grudge?"

"We did make our baby that day and that was when I first realized my feelings for him. But I didn't know what I was doing and I accidentally hurt him. He pushed me off and fell and hit his head…it wasn't pretty. When he recovered, he grabbed his wand and started flinging hexes at me. I reacted instinctively and fired the first spell that popped into my head. I didn't know it was going to do that, I swear. I explained it to him and he understands and we're trying to work through it, but it seems like it gets brought up at least once a week. I almost killed him Hermione."

"I know, but you didn't and you won't hurt him again."

Harry nodded and they walked in silence for a minute before Hermione changed the subject back to studying. When they finished the circular path in the lilac forest, Harry suggested they go back to the study and get to work. Hermione soon had her own desk in the study, to the right of Harry's desk. When dinner time came, Harry wasn't yet ready to explain to the rest of the Gryffindors where he'd been all day, so he and Hermione called Dobby and had dinner in the room of requirement instead. Hermione gave Harry a look like she had caught him torturing muggles, but didn't say anything.

After dinner Hermione went back to Gryffindor tower and Harry went off to his last detention with Snape. Harry was eager to find out how Draco was, so the first question off of his lips as soon as the door was closed behind Harry was, "How's Draco, sir?"

"Recovering nicely; his mother is taking good care of him. He won't be in classes tomorrow, but I think he should be able to go back Thursday, provided he uses a wheelchair," Snape answered.

"Good. Can I see him tomorrow? We usually meet after classes, before dinner."

"That could be arranged. Come to my office at three and I will bring Draco there," Snape replied.

"Sir, I kind of forgot to tell Ron to come see you."

"Why?"

"You see, I punched him in the head. He blacked out and I left," Harry confessed.

"Very well. I'll inform him of his month of detentions tomorrow."

"Sir?"

"Yes Mr. Potter?"

"Earlier, when I was fighting with Ron, I accidentally let it slip that Draco's pregnant."

"Why on Earth would you do that? Now I will have to obliviate a student. Do you know how complicated you are making my life, Mr. Potter?"

"It sort of slipped out. He didn't understand why I was so mad or how Draco was hurt, but I didn't tell him the baby was mine. He still doesn't know anything else, except that Draco and I are friends and Draco's pregnant."

"In that case maybe I will spend the next month punishing him with occlumency lessons instead of obliviating him."

"Thank you sir."

"Is that all Mr. Potter?"

"Yes sir."

"Mr. Binns will not be here for another hour, so get to work."

Harry noted that Snape wasn't punishing him for punching Ron- no house points were taken and no detentions were given- and that was out of character for Snape. It seemed for once, Harry had caught a break. Ron, on the other hand, was catching a month's worth of detentions, which made Harry glad, even though he didn't feel it was a strong enough punishment for nearly killing his child. But there was not much more Harry could do, so he got to work.

Mr. Binns came by right on schedule with an engagement ring with the Potter crest on it. Apparently the goblins had found it in Harry's vault after all, along with a set of wedding rings. There was only one man's ring in the set and it was plain, but still Harry might be able to use it for himself, especially if Draco's parents gave them a ring. Mr. Binns was finished with the wedding contract, so he spent the rest of the night explaining it. Finally when it was nearing ten and Harry was exhausted, Mr. Binns allowed Harry to sign and left.

Snape excused Harry, warning Harry to behave and not get any more detentions, so Harry went to the room of requirement and went to sleep in the bed he normally shared with Draco. It was too big and lonely by himself, but Harry took the green stuffed turtle with him.

To Harry, it seemed as if he had only just fallen asleep when he was woken up two hours later by the sound of Draco's voice. "Harry? Are you in here?" Draco called.

"It will be ten points from Gryffindor for being caught out after hours, Mr. Potter," Snape said.

"Really Severus, if he's in a bed, in a hut, inside a room, then surely that doesn't count as being out after hours," Narcissa said.

"Harry, I hope you're dressed, because mother is here," Draco called out. It would probably be better if Professor Snape didn't catch Harry naked either, but Draco was much more concerned about his mother seeing that than Professor Snape.

Harry was groggy and confused at first. 'What time is it and why are Draco and his mum here? And Professor Snape too!? Merlin's pants,' Harry thought as he sat up. At least Harry was wearing presentable pajama bottoms, so Draco didn't have anything to worry about.

* * *

Author's Note: Hermione down, Narcissa, Snape, and Draco's midnight visit next! The aftermath of the near miscarriage is almost over and now Narcissa is at Hogwarts and Hermione knows the truth.


	32. Chapter 32

Author's Notes: No censorship was needed in this chapter.

* * *

Harry was groggy and confused at first. 'What time is it and why are Draco and his mum here? And Professor Snape too!? Merlin's pants,' Harry thought as he sat up. At least he was wearing presentable pajama bottoms, so he wouldn't be caught naked by Snape and Draco's mum.

Harry grabbed a t-shirt out of the dresser and put it on, before exiting the hut to greet Draco, Narcissa, and Snape on the dining patio. Narcissa was standing next to Draco and Snape was behind Draco. Draco himself was sitting in a wheelchair with both feet up.

"Hi, what're you all doing here?" Harry asked groggily.

"Sleep here often, Mr. Potter?" Snape asked.

"Um, no, I just didn't want to have to look at Ron. I'm worried I might get expelled when I kill him, so I thought it best to avoid him.

"Yeah, maybe you should wait until there are Death Eaters around you can blame," Draco replied. He wouldn't mind if Harry committed a certain murder, just as long as Harry didn't get caught.

"Boys, if you're done having your little chat, perhaps we could set up sleeping arrangements for the night. How many beds and bedrooms does this charming little hut have?" Narcissa asked.

"Um, just one bedroom with the one bed I was sleeping in, but I can change the room. Are you three sleeping here too?" Harry asked confused.

Snape let out a snort-like sound of disgust.

"No, just Draco and I will be joining you. I must compliment you on obtaining such a fine establishment. A beach, a garden, and a house all inside Hogwarts is quite impressive," Narcissa answered.

"Careful, his head in already the size of this room, if it swells much larger he will have trouble getting out the door," Snape said.

"Can we all sleep in one room or do we need two?" Harry asked. He wanted to sleep with Draco and Harry thought Draco's mother might want to sleep with Draco too, given Draco's condition.

"Draco and I will be sharing one room and we'll need a second room for you, unless you wish to go back to your dormitory," Narcissa answered.

"Okay two rooms then. Let me concentrate on it and see what I can do," Harry replied.

Harry thought about what he wanted from the room of requirement.

The hut shuddered and grew a massive addition into the lilac forest, leaving the dining patio untouched. Harry cringed as he thought of all the flowers that would be gone, especially the little pond with the water lilies, but it was for a good cause, so he didn't say anything.

"Let's go inside and see," Draco suggested, eager to see how the hut had changed.

"Yeah, alright," Harry said walking into the sitting room. Narcissa followed and Snape, pushing Draco in the wheelchair, followed Narcissa. The sitting room looked the same. Harry opened the door to the hallway and noticed a new hallway on the left, where the door to the study used to be.

The door, presumably to the study, was moved several feet closer to the sitting room. Harry wasn't sure the study was still a study, because it could possibly be a bedroom now, so he opened the door and peered in. It was the same study, just several feet shorter, to make room for the hallway. Harry stepped out of the way, so that the three Slytherins could look in. Then Harry opened the door to the nursery, to make sure it was still the nursery. Harry let out a sigh of relief when he saw that it was unchanged, including the view.

Narcissa, Snape, and Draco followed Harry into the nursery and Narcissa let out a gasp of surprise when she saw it. "It's beautiful. Did you make all this Harry?" Narcissa asked.

"Yes, most of it I made with the room's help. Draco changed the color to indigo though, and that has really made all the difference. And he made the study," Harry answered.

"As impressive as ordering a magical room about is, it is getting late. Perhaps, if you don't mind, we could move this show along?" Snape asked.

They all agreed and Harry led the way through the new hallway. It opened into almost a third hallway where it dead ended with three doors. Harry opened the door straight ahead and found a loo. Next Harry opened the door on the left and found a bedroom. It had a single king sized bed, which was larger than the bed in their normal room, in it. It was fully furnished and had opened windows on two sides that looked out directly onto the pond with the water lilies.

"This is my room," Draco said, pointing to the dark green rug with an ivory colored dragon on it. The bedspread was Ivory colored with a green dragon on it and the walls were ivory with a green trim.

"Yes, it would seem so, although there isn't a bed for me," Narcissa said. "Let's see the room on the other side."

Draco was glad there wasn't a bed for mother, because he didn't want to have to share a room with her and give up all notion of personal space.

The four of them then ventured into the third new door, the one that was on the other side of the hall. This room was the same size as the dragon room, only it didn't have nearly as nice of a view. There was only the one wall with windows looking out onto a much less impressive patch of forest. Sure there were lilac bushes, guava trees, and passion fruit vines in sight, but only a little bit of the pond could be seen. Harry peered out the open window to see if he could get a better view of the pond and noticed that there were hundreds of narcissuses blooming right outside the window, just too low to the ground to see from inside the room. It led to a very fragrant room.

The room itself was very flowery. It had the same features as the other room, with a large bed, but instead of looking plain, it all looked frilly. There were intricate flower carvings on all the wooden furniture. The bed was dressed in frilly sheets that were the color of the narcissuses outside, but had a dusty rose colored flowery pattern on them. The rug was a dusty rose color and so was the cushion of the chair to the desk.

"Mother, I think this room is for you. Harry can sleep in the original bedroom. Now I'm sleepy and hungry, so can we please get settled?" Draco asked. He hadn't eaten since dinner and it was now past midnight. Sure he had been asleep for several of the intervening hours, but it was still snack time.

"Do you want guavas or passion fruit?" Harry asked, seeing both through Narcissa's bedroom window and thinking they would be the quickest thing for Draco to eat.

"Yeah, I'll take a few of each," Draco replied.

Harry pulled out his wand and summoned enough fruit to fill a frilly ivory colored basket that conveniently appeared on Narcissa's desk. "Here you go," Harry said handing the basket to Draco.

"I will put Mr. Malfoy to bed. I dare say with these paneless windows you should both be able to hear him without trouble, but you still ought to check on him and cast a few alarm spells to monitor him," Snape said.

"I'll set that up right now," Narcissa replied.

"And I'll help Professor Snape put Draco to bed," Harry suggested.

"No, you will go to your own bed. Mr. Malfoy needs his rest and does not need to be kept up all night chattering away like school children," Snape replied.

"Fine, I'll just be in the bedroom by the beach, alone," Harry replied, backing up.

Harry didn't want to leave Draco, but as long as Draco had Narcissa, Harry figured Draco was in good hands. And as long as Snape was around, Harry couldn't get to Draco, so he figured it would be best to wait for Snape to leave and then sneak into Draco's room. Harry had an invisibility cloak and there was no glass on any of the windows, so it would be a piece of cake to sneak in. Thus Harry went to his bed, lay down, and waited for the sound of Snape exiting the room of requirement.

Snape pushed Draco back into the dragon room and took the fruit basket from Draco, setting it down on the nightstand. Then Snape picked Draco up and settled Draco down on the bed. "Now don't get up for anything; your mother is just down the hall so call for her if you need something," Snape instructed, handing Draco the fruit basket back.

"Yeah, got it," Draco replied. Professor Snape was Draco's favorite professor, but after spending the entire evening with Snape, Draco was ready for some alone time. Draco had spent most of the afternoon and evening trying to nap, to avoid the conversations mother was having with Professor Snape. Half of it was pregnancy diagnostic spells and potions and the other half was planning their extended stay in hiding. Snape had finished warding the villa in France and wanted to move mother there as soon as possible and that meant stocking the place with rations. It was all quite dull for Draco.

"I'll be by to check on you in the morning," Snape said, setting a rack of Draco's potions on the desk before leaving.

Draco ate his fruit in peace, throwing the rinds of the passion fruit out the window into the pond with a plop. His mother came in and tucked Draco into bed and sang him a song, but then he was left alone for the first time all day. It had been a very disturbing day and it seemed he would have a semi-permanent reminder of the day plastered on his stomach for the rest of the pregnancy. Mother had changed him out of his school robes and into a pair of pajama pants, with no shirt, so the horrid cervix could be watched.

Draco understood that Professor Snape and mother and even Harry would want to watch his cervix for signs of the labor restarting, but he really didn't want to be reminded of it anymore. It was like having a big giant pimple on his stomach that was specifically designed to remind him of one of the worst moments of his life; he was really collecting painful memories lately. And so Draco pulled the dragon blanket up just enough to cover the stupid cervix, even though it was a warm tropical night, and went to sleep.

Harry heard Snape leave, but he could still hear Narcissa making noises as she moved about, so he waited. He heard her singing and then speaking a few hushed words. Then he heard nothing and hoped she was asleep, but wasn't yet willing to risk it. Then finally he heard a snore that was _not_ Draco's, because it was far too loud and feminine sounding. He grabbed his cloak and the green stuffed turtle, and snuck into Draco's room. Sneaking in turned out to be super easy, because Narcissa left Draco's door open.

Draco was lying on one side of the bed sleeping, with one hand fallen off the bed. Harry put the turtle on the bed with Draco, grabbed a pillow, and lay down on the rug on the side of the bed. Harry reached up and took Draco's hand in his. Even though Harry hadn't really gotten a chance to talk to Draco, Harry felt relieved that they were finally back together and Draco was safe. Harry fell asleep like that.

Harry was awoken in the morning by Narcissa tending to Draco. Harry knew Draco was awake, because Draco was whining and complaining. Narcissa had crawled onto the bed, from the side opposite Harry, to get to Draco and was performing spells on Draco. Harry got up to see if he could help and his eye was instantly drawn to the little cervix on Draco's lower abdomen. Draco still looked lean and fit, but Harry noticed that that lower bit of stomach was pooched out just a little bit.

Draco had to pee and he was hungry and bored. Snape's urine vanishing charm had stopped working sometime in the night and now Draco's tiny bladder was full.

"What's taking soooo long mother?" Draco asked impudently.

"I'm trying to cast a permanent vanishing charm here my Dragon, so you won't have to pee for the rest of the pregnancy," Narcissa replied lovingly. "Now if you'll just be still and quiet, I've finally located your bladder, so I can begin."

"Fine, proceed," Draco huffed, but lay still and waited.

Harry watched as Narcissa cast a complicated vanishing spell on Draco that took several minutes to finish. Harry wasn't sure what to do, so he just stood there and waited.

Draco felt instant relief thirty seconds before Narcissa was done. It felt wonderful not to feel like his bladder was going to explode.

"Okay, now how do we order breakfast around here?" Narcissa asked.

"Um, I call Dobby, mam. What do you want; I'll order it," Harry offered, finally finding something he could do.

"I want pancakes with whipped cream and bananas slices and syrup, with a plate of island fruit," Draco requested, as soon as he heard the mention of breakfast. Come to think of it, he still had a few pieces of fruit left in his basket from last night, so he summoned his basket and began eating.

"That's fine with me too," Narcissa said.

"Okay, I'll go work on it," Harry replied.

"We'll be in here; I'm just going to cast all the usual diagnostic spells and make sure nothing has changed," Narcissa replied.

"I didn't know you had medical training, mam," Harry said.

"Not formally, no, but I served as a nurse during the first war, patching up injured Death Eaters Lucius would bring home. I did small injuries and just tried to hold over the more severely injured until Severus could get to them," Narcissa answered.

"You don't have to worry; Professor Snape showed mother how to do all the necessary tests yesterday. I felt like a research subject after all that magical poking and prodding," Draco said.

"Okay then, I'll just be out on the dining patio ordering breakfast," Harry replied, leaving the room.

Harry called Dobby and ordered breakfast, before going back to Draco's room. Narcissa was casting a spell and Harry waited to see the results. Harry didn't know what the spell was, but it made a blue three-lettered blob in the air over Draco's cervix.

"I don't know what I'm doing wrong," Narcissa said.

"It's the same result Professor Snape got: blue, three letters, and the middle one clearly an eight," Draco replied.

"Is that the sex determining spell then?" Harry asked.

"Yep and that's the fourth time now that it's returned the same result," Draco answered.

"Don't worry; I think it's just blurry because the genitals haven't formed yet. Give it time," Narcissa said kindly.

"Do you think that definitely means it's a boy or just that it's too early to tell?" Harry asked Narcissa.

"My money is on boy. I think we should go ahead and order the boy things we were picking out yesterday," Narcissa replied.

"Yes, I agree. It's going to take time to make the fabric I want," Draco said.

As Draco was talking, Dobby appeared with a tray of food. Dobby silently placed it on Draco's desk and left with a pop.

"I agree. We can discuss the ordering when I get back from classes, but for now I think we should dig in," Harry said grabbing a plate of pancakes and handing it to Draco.

Narcissa took a plate and Harry took the last one for himself. Narcissa pulled in her chair from the flower room and Harry ate cross-legged on the floor.

After breakfast, Harry left Draco and Narcissa and went to class. In between classes, Harry spent his free period with Hermione in the library. Harry wanted to leave to check on Draco, but he knew Draco was in good hands. Harry had promised Hermione that they would work on their transfigurations essay today, because it was the only day she had a free period. Ron was supposed to be there too, but thankfully Ron headed off the other way after transfigurations. Harry tried to help Hermione with the research, but he was glad when Hermione closed her book and cast a muffling charm, indicating they were done studying.

"I talked to Ron and he knows to keep his mouth shut," Hermione said.

"Good," Harry replied.

"Have you gotten any news on Malfoy?"

"Yeah, he stayed in the room of requirement with me and his mum last night. He's mostly fine."

"Oh good!" Hermione exclaimed hugging him. "I was so worried."

"Thanks Hermione, I really appreciate it."

"I thought he was staying with Snape?"

"I didn't get a chance to ask, but Snape moved him last night."

"Well that's good that you'll get to see him more…"

"But?"

"But I was hoping to spend some time with you in the room of requirement and I don't want to intrude."

"Come on, I know you just want to use the study," Harry teased, taking another bite of sandwich.

"Yeah, but I really would like you to include me. I'd like to get to know Malfoy and his mum."

"Alright, I'll talk to them about it. Maybe you can come by sometime this weekend," Harry replied.

"Lunch time; let's go," Hermione said, packing her things away.

They went to the Great Hall and sat at the Gryffindor table, where Harry was confronted by his housemates.

"Harry, is it true you tried to have Ron expelled yesterday? That you got him loaded with a month's worth of detentions and a hundred points taken away from Gryffindor?" Ginny asked.

"No, Ron did that himself. He almost killed Draco in front of Snape. And for the second time in a month, Malfoy would've been dead if Snape wasn't there," Harry replied. He didn't know about losing all those house points, but when he turned his head to look, their meter was depressingly low. They certainly weren't going to win the house cup this year.

"That's not the way Ron tells it," Seamus said, jumping into the conversation. "He says he barely punched Malfoy and that he's blowing it way out of proportion."

"He punched Malfoy in the stomach, right where I cut him open last month. He busted open all the stiches Snape gave him. He would have bled to death," Harry replied. Hermione and Seamus knew enough about muggle things to know what he was talking about. After the attack of Mr. Weasley last year, Ginny did too, but several of the other Gryffindor's in the vicinity gave Harry a funny look, wondering what sewing had to do with healing.

"Ron didn't say anything about blood," Ginny replied, starting to doubt her brother's side of the story.

"Well Snape didn't exactly let him stay around. When Snape pulled up Malfoy's robes, he was bleeding out of his sectumsempra wounds," Harry insisted. It wasn't the whole truth, but it was close enough.

"Alright, that's enough arguing. Harry was there to see Snape fix Malfoy, so if he says Malfoy was dying, then I, for one, believe him," Hermione defended Harry.

"I agree," Neville put in bravely.

"Where is Ron, by the way?" Harry asked. He wanted to know why he was defending himself to Ginny, when Ron was nowhere to be found. Ron was in their morning class with Harry, but where was Ron now?

"He skipped lunch to avoid you, Harry," Seamus answered.

"Brilliant, I don't want to see him ever again, so that works perfectly for me," Harry replied.

"Harry! Think of our Quidditch team!" Ginny protested.

"What about it?" Harry asked.

"First you, our captain, get a month of detentions with Snape. Then when that is _finally_ over, Ron, our keeper, has a month's worth of detentions with Snape. Now you and Ron are fighting and you don't ever want to see him again? Our game is the weekend after next! How are we going to get our act together enough to win?" Ginny asked. Harry was really beginning to think Quidditch was the most important thing in Ginny's life.

"Merlin, Quidditch!" Harry exclaimed.

"Did you forget you're Quidditch captain mate?" Seamus asked.

"No, it's just that I have so much more going on right now. I can't go to practice today," Harry answered.

"What? This is your first day without detention! We've been planning it all month," Ginny protested.

"Look, I have other more important things going on right now," Harry replied, flapping his arms in a vague manner that hopefully conveyed this was the kind of important top secret thing that they shouldn't ask him about.

"Okay, so what are you telling me?" Ginny asked.

"Gin, you're a great captain. Get the team together before dinner, including Ron, and practice for the game. I'll be set for practice Friday and I'll try to get on with Ron for the sake of the match, but after that, one of us is off the team and I'm not so certain that I want it to be him," Harry replied.

Everyone but Hermione let out shocked gasps of horror.

"You can't mean that Harry!" Ginny protested.

"We'll figure it out after the match. For now just don't bet any galleons on us winning," Harry replied.

After lunch, Harry and Hermione walked to class.

"You can tell Ron that I won't be at breakfast or dinner for now, so he's welcome to come down. But I'd appreciate it if he stayed away at lunch like he did today," Harry said.

"Yeah, I'll tell him. And I'm sure Ginny will talk to him about Quidditch too," Hermione replied.

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Author's Note: Next chapter will answer the question of just how come Draco and Narcissa moved into the room of requirement!


	33. Chapter 33

Author's Notes: No censorship was needed in this chapter and in fact this chapter is not even being posted on the adult fanfiction website. I'm having some difficulty with the site administrators and the story is currently hidden. I was hoping to get it unhidden, but since that doesn't seem to be happening, I will no longer be using that site. Instead you can find the adult content on the AO3; you can find the link on my profile page. I am sorry for the inconvenience, but I do not think the way the site administrators treat the authors is acceptable.

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After his last class, Harry went back to the room of requirement and found Narcissa and Draco in the sitting room. Harry sat on the loveseat while Draco and Narcissa were sitting next to each other on the couch. They were and laughing, just laughing, and Harry thought it was beautiful. It was the type of moment that made Harry wish he had known his parents and it also made him resolve that his child would know him. Harry would survive this war, especially for the sake of Draco and their baby.

"Harry, would you like to see what Draco looked like as a baby?" Narcissa asked.

"Yes mam," Harry replied, transfixed by the huge smile Draco was shooting him. Draco seemed so happy now that Narcissa was around.

Narcissa activated the grey crystal globe and the memory replayed again, showing an adorable baby Draco. He was teething in this memory. He had drool all over his lips and dripping down his chin as he laughed. A house elf came into view and Draco grabbed hold of an ear, which of course he tugged at until it was in his mouth. The baby giggled and burbled and happily let the elf go. "Draco was six months old when we preserved this memory of him," Narcissa said as the image receded back into the ball.

"He was adorable," Harry replied.

"Yes, he was. Do you have any baby pictures Harry?" Narcissa asked curiously, wanting to get a better idea what her grandchild might look like. Surely his relatives would have pictures, but a teenage boy might not.

"Yeah, but I left them up in Gryffindor tower," Harry replied.

"Go get them; I'd like to see what you looked like," Draco requested.

"Yes, do get them," Narcissa added.

"Alright, I'll be right back," Harry said, going into his bedroom to empty his backpack.

Harry had packed his backpack full of his school supplies and a change of clothes when he left Gryffindor tower after his fight with Ron, but he left most of his things in his dorm room. And if he was going back, he wanted his bag to be empty, so that he could get some more clothing too. He grabbed his empty backpack and headed back out the door, to Gryffindor tower. He entered the common room relieved to find Ron and the rest of their Quidditch team absent; Ginny would surely have them practicing out on the Quidditch pitch, like she agreed. Hermione wasn't here either, and so with most of his dorm mates gone, he might be able to get his photo album and get back to Draco quickly.

"Harry, you're back!" Neville called as Harry headed for the staircase.

"Yeah, just getting something," Harry replied, hoping to brush him off. He didn't want to stay for a chat.

Neville followed Harry up the stairs and as they climbed, he asked, "Where were you last night? What happened?"

"I'm staying in the room of requirement for now. I'm so mad at Rom that I can't bear to stay in the tower with him."

"But what if McGonagall finds out? You'll get in trouble for being out after hours."

"Snape already knows and he didn't do anything to me," Harry replied, reaching their landing. Harry and Neville went inside their dorm and Harry went right to work digging through his trunk to find the album Hagrid gave him and as he dug, he came across clothing he wanted and shoved it into his backpack.

"Are you coming back tonight?"

"No, I like it in the room of requirement Neville. I've got my own room there."

"But what happened with Ron?"

"He almost killed Malfoy," Harry said finding the album and shoving it in his backpack. He then went about getting some more of his clothes. Most of his new clothes were still shrunk and in the shopping bag, but he would need his school robes, so he pulled them out, shrunk them, and added them to the pile.

"And you've been trying to stay away from Malfoy and not fight with him, okay, but why are you so mad at Ron? I thought you hated Malfoy."

"Neville, you weren't there, I was. Malfoy forgot his book and was coming back to get it. He didn't touch Ron and now he's survived two near death experiences in a month. After watching Cedric die and then Sirius, and now Malfoy twice, I can't take it anymore. And do you want to know what the worst part is?" Harry asked angrily, stuffing his shrunken clothes into his backpack as well. Neville nodded. "Ron didn't even care if he killed Malfoy! He didn't care. He was pleased with himself."

Neville was speechless and Harry was done packing, so Harry slung his backpack over one shoulder and said, "Bye Neville, I'll see you in class tomorrow." He exited the room and walked down the stairs, leaving Neville behind.

Harry didn't get stopped on his way out, so he went straight back to the room of requirement. Draco and Narcissa were still on the couch in the sitting room, but this time there was a memory of a slightly bigger Draco crawling about. The baby stopped, sat up, and crammed his hand in his mouth. Harry sat down on the loveseat and watched the memory play out.

"Did you get it?" Draco asked eagerly when the memory was over.

"Yeah," Harry replied, pulling his album out.

"Let's see it then," Draco requested.

Harry opened the cover to reveal the picture of him with his mum and dad. "Well what do you think?"

"You make quite the handsome family," Narcissa said.

"I guess it's not so bad," Draco replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked Draco.

"Well it's obvious that you lot couldn't afford a brush nor could your parents cast a decent grooming charm," Draco answered honestly. For a family portrait they really should've made _some_ effort to brush their hair.

"Draco!" Narcissa chastised.

"What?" Harry asked confused.

"Well it's true mother; just look at their hair! Harry and his father both have hair that looks like it's never even seen a hairbrush. His mother is a little better, but it's a weird shade of brown. At least his father had blue eyes like mother," Draco replied.

"Draco Lucius Malfoy!" Narcissa scolded.

"Her hair was red, not brown," Harry said turning the page and revealing one where his mother's red hair was more noticeable.

Draco gasped in shock before composing himself. "Harry, if you've given this baby _red_ hair I'll hex your ballocks off. I will _not_ have a red headed baby."

"Language!" Narcissa said.

"And what are you planning to do if he turns out to have red hair?" Harry asked, trying not to laugh. "Besides hex me; I mean with the baby."

"I've got a number of options. I hear adoption's a nice choice, but I don't plan on letting it get that far, now that I know there could be a possible problem," Draco replied haughtily.

"You would get rid of our child, just because it had red hair?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I wouldn't have much other choice. Mother, will you look up the spell to determine the hair color?" Draco asked.

"I could, but I am not pleased with your behavior just now," Narcissa replied coldly.

"But mother, he could've passed _red_ hair onto _my_ baby!" Draco protested. This was one of the worst things Draco could imagine happening. It was as bad as if Harry had just revealed that squibs ran in his family.

"Well you should have figured that out _before_ you let this happen. That is why we have the extended marriage process, so little things like this can come out," Narcissa replied.

Draco had not told his mother about the rape, nor had Professor Snape. Mother had asked Draco yesterday and again this morning how he ended up pregnant. She was not upset that he was pursuing a relationship with Harry, but she couldn't understand how Draco, the top, could have had an accidental pregnancy, even if they were sleeping together outside of wedlock. She disapproved of sex before marriage, but given the near miscarriage, she was letting that go and just wanted to know how it happened. Draco didn't have an answer for her and so far had refused to answer the question.

"It's okay, mam, I know Draco just gets excited when it comes to the baby. He's a bit emotional given his condition," Harry said, trying to defuse the situation. Harry knew that Draco hadn't been given the chance to find anything out ahead of time and Draco looked like he was about to cry; Harry needed to get Narcissa to back down before the bathroom incident got brought up, again.

"Even so there are things that one simply shouldn't say in polite conversation," Narcissa replied.

"But it's just the three of us here and I like when Draco is honest with me," Harry replied. "And I really would like to know what color hair our child will have, mam." If it was red, he would need to know immediately so that he could convince Draco that it wasn't the end of the world. If Draco had eight months of preparation, maybe he wouldn't be so shocked when their baby arrived.

"Very well, I'll look up the spell and be back," Narcissa replied, heading down the hallway toward the study.

"I'm sorry," Harry told Draco, moving from the loveseat to the couch to take Draco in his arms. "I hope I didn't give our baby red hair." Harry would have loved a red-headed baby, but not after seeing how upset this made Draco. 'Would he seriously consider giving the baby away, because of red hair?'

"Yeah, me too," Draco replied, leaning forward and flipping through the photo album to look at the pictures. Harry was a cute looking baby, even if his hair wasn't combed. "At least your dad has pretty eyes."

"You want blue eyes, huh?" Harry asked. He was hoping the baby would have Draco's grey eyes and thought that Draco would have wanted the same.

"Mother has blue eyes," Draco replied, as if that was all the answer that was needed. He wanted his child to have his mother's beautiful eyes and that was more likely to happen, because Harry's father also had the same vividly blue eyes.

"I'm sure any baby of yours will be gorgeous," Harry replied.

"Yes he will be, all Malfoys are," Draco replied conceitedly, finishing his quick flip through the photo album. Baby Harry was cute, but there were only a few pictures of him, with the rest being of his parents and other people Draco didn't know. Draco left the album turned to the best picture showing a smiling, waving, raven haired baby and Draco snuggled into Harry's side on the couch. "Oh and Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't forget to stretch yourself every day. You should do it in the bathroom, so that mother doesn't overhear," Draco whispered. He was sure his mother had gone in the study and shut the door behind her, so she wouldn't hear, but with all the windows in the hut, he could never be too careful.

"Oh, I completely forgot about that with everything else that's been going on."

"Yeah, well Professor Snape has forbidden me from all sexual activity until I'm fully recovered, so you'll have to do it by yourself." This was a bit of a sore subject with Draco. He didn't want to be banned from sexual activity, especially now that he finally had an appreciation for blow jobs. Draco could hold off for a few days for the baby, but he didn't know how long he could go.

"Okay, I will. But why did Snape move you and your mum here in the middle of the night last night? I thought you two were staying with him in his quarters."

"His quarters are tiny, cramped, and depressing. I was tired of being stuck in there, so I suggested we stay in here. Then I whined and complained until mother and Snape gave in," Draco revealed. "And we went in the middle of the night so that no one would see us."

For once Harry was happy that his boyfriend was whiny and spoiled rotten, since it meant they got to spend more time together. "Brilliant," Harry replied. "What did you and your mum do all day while I was gone?"

"We looked at old memories and earlier we went for a walk in the lilac forest. Well she pushed me in my chair. Then Professor Snape came by, examined me, and moved me here, to sit on the couch."

"Snape was here? What did he say? Are you and the baby okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine. He said I can go back to class tomorrow, but I have to use the wheelchair; probably for a week."

"Whose's gonna push you? I can't without blowing our cover."

"Professor Snape will come get me in the morning, but I'll have the other Slytherins push me around during the day."

"I've been telling the other Gryffindors that Ron opened up your sectumsempra wounds, but Snape saved you again."

"That's a good one; I'll have to remember that. I think I'll tell them I'm staying in here with mother, which is why I won't be in the dungeons with them."

"But I told Neville and the others that I'm staying here to get away from Ron. What if the Slytherins talk to the Gryffindors and someone puts it together?"

"Okay, then I'm staying with Professor Snape so he can monitor my wounds," Draco replied, as his mother walked back in.

"That's better," Harry said to Draco before looking up expectantly at Narcissa, to see what she had to say about the hair color determining spell.

"I think I'm ready," Narcissa said.

"Great!" Draco replied.

Narcissa moved closer to Draco, standing over him, so that she could cast the spell. "Here I go," she said and began to cast.

Black writing appeared in the air in front of Draco's abdomen. There were five letters; the first two being a b and an l, the last three were blurry. "It's blurry again," Harry observed.

"Well it's definitely not red. With a b and an l it could be blond," Draco replied.

"Or black," Narcissa added.

"Yeah, it has to be blond or black," Harry replied happily. He was glad the baby wouldn't have red hair and that he wouldn't have to convince Draco that having red hair wasn't the end of the world. If they ever had another baby they might have to face it, but for now they didn't and that was good enough for him.

"Let's celebrate and go out to the beach. I want to go swimming," Draco said happily. He was relieved that he wouldn't need an abortion, because he was already growing attached to this baby; the thought of losing the baby yesterday had scared the shite out of him.

Harry gave Draco a hug and a chaste kiss, since Narcissa was there watching them.

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Author's Note: I actually had this chapter ready yesterday, but I was waiting to see if the drama with the other site would resolve. And since I didn't get any reviews at all, _not even one_, on this site, I decided to wait. But I just got a review from HarryPottersGirl2010 and it happened to be my 100th review for this story, so in honor of that, I decided to go ahead and post this and not worry about the other site any longer. Yay! 100 reviews!

Please Review!


	34. Chapter 34

Author's Notes: No censorship was needed in this chapter.

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Harry was awakened the next morning by the sound of Professor Snape's voice. "Get off the floor Mr. Potter and move out of the way," Snape said.

Harry reacted on instinct and pulled his body into the corner of the room before he was fully awake or knew what was happening.

Seeing his boyfriend looking around with a lost expression on his face, Draco said, "Harry, go get ready for school."

His head finally clearing, Harry realized that he was in the room of requirement with Draco and Snape; Snape was trying to give Draco one last medical check over before class. Harry got ready, had breakfast in the room of requirement, and went off to defense against the dark arts.

Harry was just taking his seat when Ron and Hermione came in. Hermione took the seat next to Harry and Harry hoped for a minute that Ron would just continue on and sit next to Dean, but Ron stopped right in front of Harry.

"Occlumency detentions, really? Don't you think that's a low blow?" Ron asked angrily.

"I have no control over what Snape's detentions are. Quite a few of mine were occlumency too," Harry replied, but then remember he wasn't speaking.

Class was starting and Professor Snape was calling everyone to attention. "Take your seat Mr. Weasley," Snape said.

"Whatever," Ron huffed and took the seat next to Dean.

Being defense class, Draco was across the room in his wheelchair, seated with the other Slytherins. Harry was eager to see how Draco was doing and thus had trouble concentrating on his work as he frequently glanced over to Draco. But Draco wasn't giving anything away, so Harry couldn't tell how Draco was being received amongst the Slytherins. Had the Slytherins turned on Draco for being weak? Or had they chalked it up to just another savage Gryffindor getting in a lucky shot? Harry wanted to know, so he hung back in the corridor after class, waiting for Draco to come out. Maybe, just maybe, Harry could catch a snippet of conversation between Draco and his friends.

Harry stopped twenty feet outside of the classroom and waited. Hermione, seeing Harry stop, also decided to stop and see what was going on, instead of heading straight to ancient runes. Ron saw Hermione stop in the hall and decided to take the opportunity to ask her for help. "Hermione, can I borrow your notes for herbology?" Ron asked.

"I already told you no Ronald. Do it yourself and pay attention in class next time," Hermione replied, trying to brush Ron off. She wanted to find out why Harry had stopped and she couldn't do that with Ron around.

"But Hermione, that herbology essay is due after lunch and I still haven't finished it. I need your help," Ron said.

"You should've thought of that yesterday when you choose to go to Quidditch practice, even though you knew you'd be in detention with Professor Snape all evening."

"Can I please just borrow your notes? I'll give them back after lunch and you won't even miss them when you're in ancient runes."

"No. I told you not to do anything to Malfoy and you didn't listen and now you must pay the price. Now will you please leave so I can finally speak to Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I'll go to the other side of the corridor so you can find out what he wants, but I need those notes Hermione," Ron replied.

"You're not getting them, but go on then." Ron walked down the hall, back towards the defense classroom. "He's gone, spill," Hermione requested quietly, so that Ron wouldn't hear.

"Sorry Hermione, I just stopped because I wanted to see how he's doing," Harry whispered.

"Wasn't he still with you this morning?" Hermione asked in a soft voice.

"Yeah, but I want to know how he's getting along in the chair and if people have been asking him questions."

"Yeah, okay. Oh look, here he comes," Hermione said as Draco, in his wheelchair, and a group of Slytherins finally exited the classroom.

The Slytherins hadn't seen Harry and Hermione yet, but they stopped when they reached Ron. "Look Draco, if it isn't the blood traitor who tried to murder you," Pansy said.

"What are you playing at? I only punched you a few times; you don't need a wheelchair," Ron said to Draco.

Draco didn't reply to Ron or look at him. Instead Draco turned his head back to see Goyle and said, "Come on, Greg, we need to get to class."

"I'll get you back for this Malfoy," Ron threatened, furious that the other boy had ignored him like that.

But Draco was already passed Ron and then Draco turned down the next corridor.

"I better go or I'm gonna be late too," Hermione said, glancing over at Ron, but not leaving. She was worried that Harry and Ron would come to blows if she left them alone together.

Harry wanted to follow after Draco, but he knew it would be best to wait until this afternoon to talk to Draco. Instead, Harry decided to have a word with Ron, who having seen Hermione looking at him, was walking towards them again.

"So can I get those notes?" Ron asked.

"Ron, can I speak to you for a moment?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," Ron replied, looking to see that the corridor was empty, which it was. Everyone else had already gone off to their next class.

"Look, I heard you threaten Malfoy," Harry began.

"Ron, you know you can't do anything to him without hurting the baby," Hermione hissed. "We discussed this: you need to leave him alone so that you don't get us all expelled."

"How do I know Harry's telling the truth about that? Malfoy doesn't exactly look pregnant," Ron retorted.

"The second cervix is still on his stomach from yesterday. Tell me Ron, how does a Peverell get a second cervix if he's not in labor?" Harry asked.

Hermione and Ron spoke in quick succession.

"It's still there?" Hermione asked.

"How am I supposed to know? I'm not the Peverell," Ron replied.

"Yeah, Snape stopped the labor, but couldn't reverse it. He's stuck with the extra cervix until he delivers," Harry answered.

"Ron, Peverell wizards only get the second cervix when they're in labor and it disappears again when the labor is over," Hermione informed Ron.

"And you saw this?" Ron asked, gulping.

"Yes, I did. I saw it contracting and bleeding. Now will you please just leave him alone until the end of term?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, okay, but you know I didn't know. How was I supposed to know? I mean, he's a bloke and I didn't even know he was queer," Ron replied.

"Whatever, I don't care. Just stay away from him and stay away from me," Harry said.

"Harry, you can't be serious. You're my best mate; you're not really going to end our friendship over Malfoy, are you?" Ron asked.

"No Ron, you ended our friendship over Malfoy. Now stay away from us," Harry said.

"I can't believe you," Ron replied.

"Just give him time," Hermione told Ron. "Merlin, class is probably starting; I got to go."

Hermione ran off in the direction of her ancient runes class, without giving Ron her notes. Ron let out a huff of irritation and took off in the direction of the Gryffindor tower.

Harry went in the other direction, towards the library, to work on his own herbology essay. Harry at least had it pretty much complete, but he wanted to double check that he had his facts straight. He got caught up in his work and didn't notice the time, so he was late heading to lunch. Lunch was already in full swing when Harry arrived and he sat down next to Hermione, Seamus, and Neville. The conversation suddenly fell silent when he arrived, so Harry asked, "Well what did I miss?"

"We were just talking about Malfoy and the wheelchair," Neville answered.

"Yeah, the rumor from the Ravenclaw table 's that he's just playin' it up. Ron did say that he only punched Draco a few times in the stomach. It's not like his legs are broken or anythin'," Seamus added.

"Snape's worried he'll tear the sectumsempra wounds open again," Harry replied.

"Word from the Slytherin table is that it's a dark curse and Snape doesn't know how long it'll take to fully heal. Snape's ordered him not to walk, so that he doesn't risk tearing it open again," Ginny confirmed. She was sitting on the opposite side of the table.

"Sounds about right," Harry replied, grabbing a sandwich and some crisps. Lunch was already halfway over and he hadn't even started eating.

"Malfoy's really playing it up though. I heard that he hasn't been back to the Slytherin dungeons since it happened. He's been staying with Snape in his personal quarters," Dean said.

"Yes, well Snape wants to watch those wounds closely," Hermione replied.

After that the conversation switched to Quidditch and the upcoming game. It was the last game of the year and would determine who would win the Quidditch Cup. Harry promised that he would be there at practice Friday after dinner and then he, Hermione, and Neville went off to herbology. After class was over, Hermione and Harry walked back into the castle and up the stairs. When they were alone on a staircase she asked, "Did you ask Malfoy about me coming over to visit on the weekend?"

"No, sorry, I forgot," Harry replied.

"Well do ask him. I really would like to get to know him better," Hermione said.

"Yeah, alright, I will," Harry replied.

Harry and Hermione parted ways, with Hermione going to Gryffindor tower and Harry heading further up to the room of requirement. Not having herbology, Draco was already there, sitting on the couch in the sitting room with his mum.

"Harry, do come join us," Narcissa called, when Harry entered the room of requirement.

"Coming," Harry called, forgetting Hermione's request. He did mean to ask, but the moment he smelled the salty lilac breeze and heard Draco's voice, he completely forgot. Harry went inside the hut and found Draco and his mum looking through the baby and paternity catalogs; Harry hadn't seen the paternity one since giving it to Professor Snape. "What's going on?"

"Mother and I were working on putting our order together. She was just explaining why we need such an exorbitant amount of baby clothing, when it's only _one_ baby, not an army of them," Draco explained.

"Well as I have it understood, the plan is to go into hiding with no contact with the outside world for the first year or more of this child's life. Correct?" Narcissa asked.

"Yes. I don't think it hurts to buy enough clothes for two years, just in case the war lasts longer than I'd like," Harry replied. "The baby will still need clothes even after the war."

"And there is also the chance that your child will be quite large and will need the larger sized clothes before the first year is out. You can't know that ahead of time," Narcissa added.

"Okay, so we need two years' worth of clothes and the baby needs bigger clothes every three to six months, I got that part. But what I don't get is how _one_ baby could need twenty-eight size newborn onesies," Draco insisted.

"What's a onesie again?" Harry asked. He couldn't remember all of the baby terms Hermione had gone over with him.

"An undershirt for babies," Draco answered.

"Babies need a onesie under their clothes during the day and during the night, so they frequently go through two of them a day; more when they are first born. We need a two weeks supply, times two a day, equals twenty-eight," Narcissa explained.

"Alright, but how can we need fourteen sized newborn nightgowns, when we're having a _boy_," Draco retorted.

"Newborns are hard to dress in pajamas. They're curled up in the fetal position and for the first week or so, he'll wear nothing but onesies and nightgowns," Narcissa replied.

"And fourteen pajamas in each size? Even in the newborn size when we'll also have all those nightgowns?" Draco asked, going down the list.

"Again, it's just a two weeks supply. Even in the newborn size, you'll need fourteen of them, because they go through them more quickly at that age. Draco, you don't seem to realize how often a newborn baby spills milk all over themselves. And I know your child will be a Peverell wizard and won't poop, but little boys pee out of their nappies all the time," Narcissa explained.

"I don't have a problem with buying all of that. I've got an inheritance, so I can afford it," Harry jumped in, before Draco could complain about the next thing on the list of items.

"Yes, but ultimately any money that is not wasted could go to our children and grandchildren as their inheritance," Draco protested.

"Forgive him, his father only had a chance to go over the frugality lesson with him, before he went to Azkaban. Unfortunately, Draco hasn't had the lesson in which his father would sit him down and explain that a Malfoy needs the best of everything," Narcissa said.

"Okay, so the baby really needs all of these clothes, but he certainly doesn't need all these things: a crib, a bassinet, a cradle, and a travel bed? I think not," Draco said, pulling up the other list from the second catalog.

"Which of those things do we have in the nursery?" Harry asked. He had been planning on recreating the nursery…well the boy half that is.

"Just the crib," Draco answered.

"A basinet or a cradle is useful in the first month, when the baby will need constant feedings during the night. You won't want to get up two or more times every night to get him from the crib in the nursery just to feed him, so you put a cradle or a basinet by your bed and put the baby to sleep in there," Narcissa explained.

"And the travel bed?" Draco asked.

"It's a multi-purpose item. It's a play area to keep him out of trouble and from getting into things when he's older. It comes with a changing table and basinet feature, for him to be changed on and sleep in when you're on the go," Narcissa said.

"So if Voldemort catches us, we can just take the travel bed, a bag of nappies, and go?" Harry asked, trying to be practical.

"No! The Dark Lord is not catching me and the baby. He might catch _you_, but you won't lead him to us," Draco warned sternly.

"Yes, I happen to agree with Draco on that one. We won't actually be taking the baby anywhere outside the fidelius charm until after the war, so we probably don't need the travel bed or travel changing table functions, but it's still nice to have the play area," Narcissa replied.

"We have house elves for watching the baby and keeping him out of mischief. I'm crossing it off the list," Draco said, gleefully crossing off the item; it was the first one he had gotten his mother to admit that they didn't really need. "And I'm gonna have a bed in the nursery, so I can sleep with the baby the first few months without having to get a basinet or cradle, so I won't need those either."

"Surely you and Harry won't want the nursery crammed into your bedroom," Narcissa replied.

"We will also have a bedroom next door and Harry can sleep there if he wishes, but I'm gonna have a second bed in the nursery."

"So instead of getting an inexpensive basinet, you want another adult sized bed?" Narcissa asked.

"Yes. He'll need a bed eventually and I'd like an extra one in the nursery, so I can stay with him when he gets sick."

"Where are you getting these strange ideas Draco? The house elves will tend to him when he's sick," Narcissa said.

"From this book," Draco said, pulling a book out of his school bag, which was hooked onto the back of his wheelchair.

"What to Expect When You're an Expecting Wizard," Narcissa read and then read the inside book jacket. "Well it certainly sounds informative. I think I read a similar book back in the day, only this one is for Peverell pregnancies and has all the latest parenting ideas."

"Can I borrow that book?" Harry asked curiously. It looked like just the type of book he needed to be prepared for all this baby stuff.

"I got it from the study; just ask the room to provide you with your own copy," Draco suggested.

"Yeah, okay, I will," Harry said. He thought about how he wanted his own copy and one appeared on the coffee table, next to all the catalogs and lists of baby stuff. Harry picked it up and started looking through it. "Cool, there're diagrams in here on how to use some of those baby things in the nursery." He was looking at a page showing a play seat and how to buckle a child into it and cast the charms to make it vibrate, flash lights, and play music.

"Why don't you boys go to the nursery and practice with a trial baby and leave me to finish up the ordering. With Draco's notes on his preferences, I already have everything I need to put this order together," Narcissa suggested.

"A trial baby?" Harry asked, never having heard of it.

"Yes, haven't you seen them before?" Narcissa asked and the boys both shook their heads. "They use them in parenting classes. It's a doll that is the size and shape of a newborn baby and charmed to be lifelike. It cries if you hurt it and when it needs to be fed and it soils its nappy, but you can also turn it off when you're done. Ask the room for one and go practice."

"You're just trying to get rid of us so that you can order all the rest of this furniture we don't need," Draco accused his mother.

"Um, I think we should start with getting the stuff in the nursery and then if there is something we really need, you could explain why to us," Harry suggested, trying to avoid another fight.

"I promise to wait on the furniture until after I've discussed it with the two of you. I have plenty to work on with the clothing for now," Narcissa replied.

"Well then come on Draco," Harry said getting up to push Draco's chair.

"Oh alright," Draco replied.

Harry pushed Draco down the hall to the nursery where they found a lifelike doll in the crib with the white and gold flowers. "I think she's sleeping," Harry said, looking over the crib rail and seeing the doll with her eyes closed and her chest moving up and down. Her face was wrinkled and her body was curled up underneath a purple nightgown. She had a purple hat on her head and jet black eyebrows.

"Well pick her up," Draco replied.

"I don't know how."

"Put one hand under the back of her head and use the other hand to scoop her up."

"I'm scared," Harry replied nervously.

"It's a doll. If you hurt her, she'll cry. That's the worst that can happen. You can't do permanent damage."

"Yeah, I guess," Harry replied, but he didn't make a move.

"We need to practice on the doll, so we don't have to go through this for the first time with a real baby. I can't get out of this chair to get her; you have to do this Harry," Draco encouraged.

"Can't I just read that book first?" Harry pleaded. He was too scared to try. Draco had gotten a chance to read the book, but Harry hadn't even known there was a book until now.

"Whatever, I'm getting my own doll. I bet I get the higher score," Draco said turning his wheelchair around. The baby seats were still in the nursery and were much more at Draco's level, so he willed another doll to appear.

"Score? These things keep score of how we do?" Harry asked, even more nervous now. What if he got an F with the doll and Draco never let him hold the real baby?

"Yep. I'm so getting an A. Mine even looks like me," Draco said, leaning down to pick up a pink bundle from the play seat. His doll looked just like Harry's doll, except with blond eyebrows and a pointed chin.

Harry watched as Draco carefully bent over and picked up the pink baby, one hand behind the head and the other arm under the back and butt, just as Draco had instructed him to do. He looked over Draco's shoulder to see if he could see the similarity and he saw the doll open grey eyes and then close its eyes and open its little mouth in a yawn. He thought for a moment that she was going to cry, but she didn't. She just opened her grey eyes again and looked up at Draco.

"Oh look! Cereus has my eyes!" Draco exclaimed.

"Sirius?" Harry asked. "After my godfather?"

"No, Cereus, C-E-R-E-U-S, is a type of cactus flower I like. Sirius is a boy's name and Cereus is a girl's name and Cereus is clearly a girl. What are you naming your doll?" Draco asked.

Harry couldn't help but not believe Draco, because Cereus the cactus flower sounded just like Sirius the constellation and he had specifically told Draco that he wanted to name their son after his godfather. But if Draco was reaching out and making a gesture and didn't want to make a big deal about it, he wasn't going to complain. "Um, let me think about it," Harry said, looking back over at the baby in the crib. He noticed that the baby's purple nightgown was covered in the same white and gold plumerias as the crib. "How about Plumeria?"

"Sure, whatever you want. She's your doll," Draco replied off handedly. He was busy gently stroking the soft cheek of baby Cereus. The doll turned her head, trying to get his finger in her mouth. Draco offered his index finger and she started sucking on it, before letting go and wailing. "I think she's hungry."

"How do we make her a bottle?" Harry asked.

"Oh no, not we, get your own baby Potter," Draco replied, thinking that he needed the room to provide him with a bottle and it did. A perfectly made glass bottle appeared on the floor in front of him, so Draco pulled out his wand and summoned it, before giving it to Cereus to drink.

"But I don't know what to do," Harry complained.

"Well then I win," Draco replied cheerfully.

"You're insufferable," Harry replied frustrated. He went over to the crib, picked up the purple doll the way he had seen Draco do and stood there, not knowing what to do. He held his doll and watched Draco feeding the other doll until the purple doll in his arms began to cry. Reluctantly accepting that he was doing this alone, he sat on the rocking chair and looked at his baby. She stopped screaming and her vibrantly green eyes flashed open. "Hi Plumeria. What are you crying for?"

"Probably because you're losing so badly." Draco put Cereus on his shoulder to burp. The room had provided him with a pink burp cloth, which he had draped over his shoulder, under the baby. While he patted Cereus' back he thought, 'Merlin Harry sucks at this! But ignoring him seems to be helping. With that competitive edge of his, I knew it would.'

"What's that smell?" Harry asked, suddenly smelling something absolutely revolting. It smelled like rotten milk and decaying sewage or the streets of London in a bad part of town.

"I don't smell anything," Draco replied. Having successfully burped his baby, he was now holding her against his chest with one arm and wheeling towards one of the swings with the other. Since Harry's doll had appeared in the plumeria patterned set, he went towards the turtle patterned set. He pulled out his book and tried to figure out how to use the contraption.

"Dobby!" Harry called, wondering why he hadn't thought of this before.

"Yes Harry Potter, sir?" Dobby asked, popping into existence right in front of him.

"What's wrong with my doll?" Harry asked. "She smells like sewage."

"That is a girl doll, sir. Her nappy needs changing, sir," Dobby answered.

"You mean it… um…she pooped?" Harry asked shocked. Didn't Narcissa just say they wouldn't need to deal with this, because they were Peverells? And as he now knew, Peverells needed to be charmed at birth not to poo.

"Duh Harry, they're _girl_ dolls. Girls poop, even magical ones," Draco replied with a laugh. He had now placed his doll in the swing contraption and was trying to figure out how to use the straps to lock the doll in.

"Yes Harry Potter, sir," Dobby replied, pulling on one of his long ears.

"So I just need to change the nappy?" Harry asked the elf.

"Yes Harry Potter, sir."

"Dobby, can you show me how?" Harry asked, standing up and placing his doll on the changing table.

"Yes Harry Potter, sir," Dobby proclaimed proudly and with a snap of his fingers he had a new nappy and a box of baby wipes on the changing table, as well as a stool to stand on, so he could reach the doll. Harry watched Dobby intently as Dobby changed the nappy, trying to memorize his technique for next time.

Draco hadn't smelled anything before, but now that he had Cereus strapped in, he suddenly smelled the most vial odor imaginable and immediately began to heave. He looked over to see Dobby changing Plumeria's nappy and Harry watching and he heaved again. He clasped his hands to his mouth, catching some of the vomit, but some still spilled out the sides of his hands and onto his robes. He wanted to run to the bathroom and heave into the toilet, but he wasn't supposed to get out of the chair. He wanted to call for help, but he couldn't with his mouth full of vomit the way it was.

Harry heard Draco retching and looked over to see his boyfriend being sick all over himself. He abandoned Dobby and his doll and ran to Draco. He pushed the wheelchair into the bathroom and then lifted Draco out of the chair, setting him on the floor in front of the toilet. Draco kneeled over the toilet and continued to hurl, so Harry wished for some crackers and a glass of water and they both appeared in his hands. He handed a cracker to Draco and said, "Here, eat this."

Narcissa, having overheard the commotion while in the sitting room, ran into the bathroom to see if she could help. "Dobby," Narcissa called, remembering that Harry had been using her old house elf.

"Yes Lady Narcissa, mam?" Dobby asked, coming to the door of the nursery with the purple baby in his arms.

"Oh, there you are. Put that back in the crib and get Draco his special pumpkin juice," Narcissa said.

"Yes Lady Malfoy, mam," Dobby replied. He put the doll in the first crib and walked to the bathroom. He snapped his fingers and the pumpkin juice appeared. "Is that all Lady Malfoy, mam?"

"Yes, you may go," Narcissa replied, taking the glass of pumpkin juice and going to help Harry with Draco.

Draco had gotten the cracker down and was now sitting on the floor next to the toilet, dinking his water. He switched the glass of water for the glass of pumpkin juice when mother offered it and continued to sit and drink.

"Are you hungry?" Harry asked, remembering what Draco had told him about the sickness being worse when Draco was hungry.

"Yeah," Draco admitted. It was only half an hour until dinner time.

"I'll get you a snack. What do you want?" Harry asked.

"Macadamia nuts," Draco replied, in between sips of juice.

Harry willed a can of macadamia nuts to appear and then opened them, before handing them to Draco. Draco began popping them in his mouth as if he were starving.

"We need to get you cleaned up Draco," Narcissa said, referring to the vomit all over her son.

"I'll cast a cleaning charm," Harry said pulling out his wand and vanishing the puke.

"I'd like a bath," Draco said. He hadn't bathed in two days, relying on cleaning charms, because he didn't want Professor Snape or mother to bathe him and he wasn't supposed to be walking. He was hoping he could convince his mother to let Harry help him with his bath.

"Alright, I'll just draw you a bath," Narcissa said, going over to the tub and turning on the tap.

"Mother, I'd like Harry to give me the bath," Draco clarified.

"You should wait until you're married to share a bath," Narcissa replied. "I just barely received the marriage contract proposal today."

Harry wasn't sure what to do and he didn't want to get into the family argument, so he stayed quiet, hoping to stay out of it.

"Yes, but we've already bathed together," Draco admitted.

"Draco!" Narcissa scolded.

"I'm already pregnant by him! What more could it do?"

"It's improper." Narcissa didn't like that her son was pregnant or had had sex before marriage and she didn't want them bathing together before marriage either. She didn't mention it to the boys, but privately she felt that this situation was largely Dumbledore's fault, for not properly educating Harry. Dumbledore should've known Harry was a Peverell wizard and explained to him that pregnancy was a possibility. And since Dumbledore had not done so, she had paid a visit to the headmaster's office and cussed him out for the damage he had caused.

"Yes, we made a mistake, but we already made it. We can't go back in time and fix it, so just let him help me mother. We're not gonna fool around, not with Professor Snape's ban on sexual activity," Draco replied.

"And after Severus says the baby is no longer in any danger?" Narcissa asked.

"Then we will start fooling around again," Draco said.

"And sex?" Narcissa was looking up at the ceiling. She really didn't want to have this discussion with her son and his young man, but her husband was locked away in Azkaban and needs must.

"Sex will wait until marriage."

"And I assume since you are already pregnant that you've been informed how to prepare for that?" Narcissa asked, pinching the bridge of her nose and not making eye contact with her son.

"Not this again," Draco whined. His mother wanted details on who was the top and who was the bottom. He knew she was confused because he was a pregnant top and she just wanted to understand, but he didn't want to have to explain this to his mother.

"Yes this again Draco. If you just explain it to me, then I'll leave it alone. I already know it happened; I just want to know how and why. You're not going to get in any more trouble with me than you already are."

"Fine, Harry and I were fooling around when we first got together, before we figured out how things worked. He didn't know that I wanted to be the top and I really couldn't think with all the blood rushing out of my head and it sort of happened. He's tiny- I've never seen a Peverell so small- so he didn't need the months of preparation. He just did it and then it was over and I didn't like it, so we agreed to switch. We've been working on preparing him to bottom for next time," Draco said, weaving the lies in with bits and pieces of the truth, hoping to appease his mother.

Harry was stunned speechless. What was he supposed to say and do when his boyfriend was telling his mum about their love life? He settled for staring in stunned silence with his mouth hanging open. At least he wasn't drooling.

"There, that wasn't so hard. Thank you for explaining that to me. Now I just want to say one more thing and then I hope all the sex talks can wait until we have your father back," Narcissa said.

"What?" Draco asked exasperated. He was tired and he still felt dirty from the vomiting.

"Remember to do the preparation every day, because I'm planning the wedding for the end of term, which is less than two months away," Narcissa said, gritting her teeth. Sex talks were supposed to be Lucius' job.

"Does that mean Harry and I have your permission to be alone, naked, every day?" Draco asked, seizing the opportunity.

"It would seem so," Narcissa reluctantly agreed. She had thought the preparing was already done, seeing as how her son was pregnant. But since it wasn't, she would have to let the boys alone to do it, even if she didn't like it.

"Good, then we can start with my bath," Draco said, hoping his mother would get the hint and leave.

"Very well. Please cast a silencing charm before you start," Narcissa requested, before exiting the bathroom.

"Did you just get permission from your mum to, you know, with me?" Harry asked disbelievingly. This whole conversation just seemed too surreal.

"Yep. Put me in the bath and go get your potions ready," Draco said, taking off his robes.

Harry pulled off Draco's pants for Draco and tried not to look at that flaccid giant cock, before picking Draco up and placing Draco in the bath. "Do you need anything else?" Harry asked, handing Draco a washcloth.

"Yeah, can you find me a toothbrush?" Draco asked. His mouth still tasted vial from his earlier encounter with the toilet.

"Sure," Harry replied, looking in the mirrored cabinet above the sink.

Harry found the toothbrush, toothpaste, and rinse cup Draco had used before and handed them over. He shut and locked both doors and then stripped off his clothes, while Draco brushed his teeth.

"Aren't you gonna get you potions?" Draco asked when Harry climbed into the tub with him.

"No, not right now. I'll do it tonight when you're in bed."

"Why?"

"Because," Harry replied and when Draco just waited there looking at him, he continued. "For one thing, you've just been sick, so I'm not in the mood. And for another, I don't think it's fair for you, when I can't reciprocate. I can wait until you feel better."

"Yeah, okay." Draco handed Harry the washcloth and asked, "Wash my back?"

"Yeah," Harry replied, starting to wash Draco's back. It looked clean already to Harry, but if Draco wanted it, Draco got it. Draco moaned when Harry rubbed his lower back, so Harry pressed in a little harder and then began to knead the area with his hands and fingers. "Feel good?"

"Yeah. My back's been feeling achy."

"You should've told me; I would've massaged it sooner," Harry replied, continuing to rub the area. He wasn't sure how hard he should press and he didn't want to hurt Draco, so he mostly stuck to moving his hands in small circles with a light pressure. "So do you think this means you mum will let me start sleeping in the bed with you again, or do I still have to sleep on the floor?"

"Don't push it; mother's not exactly happy about the situation," Draco replied, snuggling into Harry's side, signaling that he was done with the back massage. "I think mother is more worried, because of the baby. Once Professor Snape clears me for sex again, she'll be more comfortable with us sleeping in the same bed."

"That doesn't make sense. Right now there is no way I could violate you, but once you're cleared for sex, I'm totally gonna be wanking you like every night," Harry replied, slowly running the washcloth over Draco's arms, after having finished his back.

"Well if you did it right now, it would be a big deal. If you do it later, then no one will know."

"Yeah, I guess. I'll just keep sleeping on the floor."

* * *

Author's Note: Next chapter Harry will remember Hermione's request. How do you think Draco and Narcissa will react to Harry asking if Hermione can come over?

Please Review!


	35. Chapter 35

Author's Notes: No censorship was needed in this chapter.

* * *

Friday morning started out like Thursday morning, except that Professor Snape left after he checked Draco over and got him ready, so it was just Harry, Draco, and Narcissa eating breakfast in the room of requirement.

"Harry, Professor Snape gave me a clean bill of health. He said I can start walking short distances and recommended I go for a swim; it's good light impact exercise," Draco said, in between bites of oatmeal and fruit.

"That's great! We can go swimming after class," Harry replied.

"Or snorkeling. Mother hasn't been snorkeling here before."

"Yes, it looks lovely," Narcissa said. "I would love to go snorkeling with the two of you; that is you don't mind Harry."

Harry wasn't too sure how snorkeling with his boyfriend and his boyfriend's mum would work out, because it sounded a little weird to him, but he wanted to make an effort to get to know Narcissa and she had been nice to him so far. "Yeah, sounds good," Harry said and then remembered that Hermione also wanted a chance to get to know Draco and his mum. "Hermione asked if she can come over this weekend. She'd love to go snorkeling too."

"Granger?" Draco asked surprised. He didn't think Granger could stand him and he personally couldn't remember her name half of the time.

"Yeah, my friend Hermione Granger," Harry replied.

"I'm not familiar with that name. Should I be Draco?" Narcissa asked.

"No, but she is Harry's most tolerable friend," Draco replied. Hermione had hit him in third year, but he was still pretending that that never happened and mother didn't know about it.

"Well then perhaps we should make an effort to get to know her Draco," Narcissa replied.

"Great! So is this weekend good?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, I guess so as long as she doesn't bring Weasley," Draco answered.

"I really must insist that the two of you not consort with the Weasleys," Narcissa added. The Weasleys were blood traitors and uncivilized brutes; the one had almost killed her unborn grandchild, for Merlin's sake! Molly Weasley had been cordial during Narcissa stay at Order headquarters. Narcissa had been reconsidering her old dislike of the Weasley family, but after being summoned by Severus on Tuesday, she no longer wanted anything to do with the lot.

"No, I'm not speaking to Ron. It'll just be Hermione. When should I tell her to come over?"

"You've Quidditch practice in the mornings, so how about the afternoon?" Draco suggested.

"Lovely, we can have her over for tea on Sunday," Narcissa added, casting a tempus charm. "Oh look at the time, you two had better grab your things and get off to class. Severus will be here to pick Draco up any minute now."

"He's coming back?" Harry asked. He wasn't sure how Draco was getting to class this morning.

"Just to push me to transfigurations, so no one knows I'm staying here and not with him. My friends will push me around from there," Draco replied.

"Yeah, okay, I'll get our bags. Your's already packed, right?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," Draco replied.

"Here, let me fix your hair Draco," Narcissa said as Harry ran into the study and retrieved their school bags. There was nothing wrong with Draco's hair as far as Harry was concerned, but Narcissa combed it anyway.

Professor Snape arrived and Harry hooked Draco's school bag onto the back of the wheelchair, before Snape took off with Draco. Harry put on his invisibility cloak and set off. Harry ducked into a small alcove to remove the cloak when he was halfway there. Harry entered the transfigurations classroom and took his regular seat next to Hermione.

"You're invited over Sunday for tea; bring your swimsuit," Harry whispered to Hermione. There were enough Gryffindors nearby that he didn't want to risk any of the details being overheard.

"Really? That's wonderful Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, before realizing that she was talking too loudly. She lowered her voice before continuing. "I just mean I wasn't sure that you'd be able to have me over, is all."

"As far as I can tell it's only Weasleys that aren't welcome, but then he's not welcome with me either," Harry whispered as McGonagall called the class to attention.

After class Hermione went to arithmancy and Harry went to the library to work on his homework. He kept a better eye on the time today, so he was a few minutes early to lunch. Ron was there filling up a plate of food to take, which was awkward, but Harry simply looked elsewhere and tried to ignored Ron.

"Harry? Harry, can we talk?" Ron asked, taking a step closer to Harry.

"What do you want?" Harry asked, trying to make this quick and not wanting to cause a scene. There were half a dozen people already seated and he could hear footsteps outside the Great Hall as more students trickled in.

"Look, I'm sorry for hurting Malfoy. I just wanted to say that," Ron said, trying to make the effort to repair his friendship. He really didn't understand why they were fighting, but did realize that it was his fault and he wanted to fix it before it got out of hand. And after seeing Malfoy stuck in the wheelchair for the second day, Ron had come to realize that he must've hurt Malfoy much worse than he thought. If Harry was telling the truth, and it seemed increasingly likely that he was, then Ron was a right prick. Ron just hoped that his mum wouldn't find out and that he could repair his friendship with Harry.

"Tell that to him," Harry suggested.

"I will," Ron replied, thinking that maybe he would, but he definitely wasn't ready to do it yet. Malfoy would probably just spit in Ron's face if he tried.

"Well good," Harry said and turned away to stare at the wall.

"How long are you gonna be mad at me over this?"

"As long as I feel like."

"Fine, I'll just go then," Ron said as the students started pouring into the Great Hall.

Harry didn't respond, but turned to his food and ate. Hermione and Neville came in and sat on either side of Harry.

"Harry I'm so excited about this weekend," Hermione said.

"What's going on this weekend?" Neville asked.

"Nothing really, Hermione's just mail ordered a book that should be in," Harry lied. Neville nodded and turned back to his food.

"Opps, I should be quieter, I know," Hermione whispered, leaning in closer to Harry so he could hear in the noisy room. "You don't have to worry about me, because I've been practicing my occlumency. Professor Snape said I'm better than you already. Although Ron is apparently a natural and he spends three hours on it every night, so he might have me beat soon."

"That's great Hermione," Harry replied.

While he talked, Harry kept an eye out for Draco, noticing that Draco still wasn't at the Slytherin table. Harry heard voices coming from the corridor, but it was noisy in the Great Hall and he couldn't quite hear what was being said. Then Harry got a bad feeling in his gut and went to check it out. Sure enough it was Draco with Crabbe and Goyle being cornered by Dean, Seamus, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Ernie Macmillan, and Terry Boot. Draco was in his wheelchair with Goyle pushing him and they were backed up against a wall. Crabbe was in front, trying to defend them.

"Yeah, I heard you went down without a fight. One punch and you were crying for your mummy," Justin taunted.

"Crabbe, just push them out of the way so Goyle can get the chair past them," Draco said.

"I tried that already," Crabbe complained as he shoved Ernie away from the chair and turned to do the same with Seamus. But Ernie just got back up and got right back in the way again, before Crabbe had even cleared Seamus away.

"Just answer our questions and we'll let you past," Terry said.

"How about I answer your questions and you leave him alone?" Harry asked, making his presence known for the first time.

"I don't need your help Potter. Your friend almost killed me by breaking open the wounds _you_ gave me. Come to finish the job?" Draco asked snidely.

"Why'd you give Ron the chance, instead of fighting back? Either you're too weak to defend yourself properly or you let yourself get beat up by a Gryffindor," Dean accused.

"Just leave him alone Dean," Harry said.

"I didn't see him coming and he broke the wounds open on the first punch. It could've happened to anyone," Draco defended himself.

"One lucky punch, huh? Do any of you believe that Ron could break open a wound that was already completely healed a month after the fact?" Seamus asked.

"It was a dark curse Potter used; who knows what it did?" Justin asked. He distrusted Potter and was willing to think badly of him.

"I hate to break up the party, but perhaps you boys would like to continue this conversation in detention?" Snape asked, appearing in the hallway.

Snape glowered at the boys who all suddenly were willing to move out of Draco's way. Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle went inside and joined the rest of the Slytherins for lunch, while Snape warned the other boys to leave Draco alone and subtracted house points, even from Harry. Harry went back to the Gryffindor table and took his earlier seat to finish his meal.

"Why'd you take Malfoy's side?" Seamus asked.

"Because we need to leave him alone. I didn't want you all getting in trouble over him. Our whole team is gonna be in detention before our game next week," Harry answered.

"That's not what it seemed like to me," Seamus replied.

"Look, he's not doing anything to any of you and he's stuck in that chair thanks to me and Ron. Can we please just leave him alone for a while?" Harry asked.

"Harry's right, we should leave him alone," Neville said.

After that Dean brought up Quidditch and the subject of Malfoy was forgotten about. After lunch Harry went to charms and then back to the room of requirement. Harry got there before Draco this time and Narcissa was sitting at the dining table with the catalogs.

"Hello Harry dear. I was just putting together the order for nursing supplies and the like. I should be done with it soon and then we'll just have the list of furniture to finalize," Narcissa said.

"Great!" Harry replied gratefully. He was starting to think he really lucked out as far as mother-in-laws went. Sure Lucius was a real piece of work, but so far Narcissa had been Merlin-sent; she was handling the ordering of supplies, organizing the wedding, and had been fairly pleasant so far. It was still awkward being around her, but he was getting used to her.

"I know you want the things in the nursery, but there are several additional items that I think Draco should have, such as a bathtub, highchair, and a walker. Then there are the smaller items, such as rattles, toys, bottles, sippy cups, and spoons and dishes," Narcissa added.

"A bathtub?" Harry asked, wondering why the baby needed its own bathtub.

"It's a small plastic tub useful in bathing newborns. Until the baby can sit up on his own, you'll need the bathtub."

"Yeah, I guess, just run it by Draco first. He can have whatever he wants," Harry replied as he heard the door opening. He didn't want to get in trouble with Draco for siding with Draco's mum.

Draco came in with Snape pushing him, but Snape had to leave right away. Draco was hungry, so Harry got him some limpids for a snack and then pushed the wheelchair into the bathroom to help Draco change into his swimming trunks. Harry changed too and when they came back out, Narcissa had put away the catalogs and was lounging on the beach in a bikini. Harry showed Narcissa the cabinet where they kept the snorkel gear. Draco put his on and Harry carried Draco out into the water, so Draco didn't have to struggle with getting into the water with fins on.

Draco thought he could manage just fine, but he didn't say anything, because he liked having Harry wait on him. The three of them went snorkeling together, but they stayed close to the shore, in case Draco got tired.

Draco did get tired quickly and he even took a nap when he got out of the water. Harry laid Draco down in the dragon bed, before grabbing his copy of the wizard parenting book. Harry held Draco in one arm and the book in the other and read. There were some scary potential complications described in the book, but most of it was on how to care for a baby; it was primarily feeding, bathing, changing, and dressing.

Harry woke Draco up at dinner time and they ate out on the dining patio with Narcissa again. They were just finishing their treacle tart when Harry heard a flapping noise and Draco spotted an owl. "Father's owl," Draco said, pointing to the owl flying in over the lilac forest.

"How did it get in here? I haven't seen any windows to the outside world," Narcissa said.

"The room must've made one, because one was required," Harry answered Narcissa. "Draco, how does your dad still have an owl when he's in Azkaban?" He was worried that this owl might mean Lucius had escaped.

The owl swooped in and landed on the table in Draco's dessert dish, nipping at the remains of his treacle tart. "This isn't really father's personal bird, just the one he's used to communicate with us ever since getting landed in Azkaban," Draco replied, taking the scroll of parchment off of the owl's leg.

"It's the prison's bird. The inmates are occasionally allowed to use it, but all their letters get checked," Narcissa explained.

No one said anything after that as Draco read. Harry and Narcissa waited in silence with baited breath for Draco to finish. The owl finished nibbling at the crumbs of food and then took off, soaring back over the lilac forest and through a small window. The sky outside was the dingy grey of billowing rain clouds and it stood out against the light blue of the fake sky.

"Well darling? What did he write?" Narcissa asked when Draco looked up again.

"He said that he's been unable to find you. He asked some of his friends to search for you, but there's been no sign. He wants to know if I've heard anything and he wants an update from me on the task the Dark Lord set me," Draco answered, handing the scroll over to mother, so that she could read. Draco wasn't particularly worried about Harry seeing the note, because father hadn't written anything too incriminating, but Draco wasn't sure if he wanted Harry to see it or not.

"Are you going to write him back?" Harry asked, taking Draco's hand.

"Yeah, I have to. I have to keep my cover until we go into hiding and if that means lying to father, then that is what I'll do," Draco replied sadly. He hated lying to father and dreaded what would happen when he saw father again. How would father take his betrayal of the Dark Lord? Would father be mad at mother for going along with it? Would father hate the baby, because it was Harry's? Or would father be accepting and switch sides? He couldn't imagine his father turning his back on him and mother, but neither could he imagine father turning his back on the Dark Lord.

"Severus should write to Lucius saying he caught you trying to sneak out of school to look for me," Narcissa said when she finished reading the letter.

"Yeah, you snuck out multiple times, but couldn't come up with anything," Harry added.

"But I haven't been back to the Manor and that is the first place I'd look if I was looking for mother," Draco replied.

"Because Snape stopped you before you got there each time. He's been following you and keeping an eye on you," Harry replied.

"No, it just occurred to me that it shouldn't be Severus. Severus should say Dumbledore and the other teachers have been catching Draco. Severus is supposed to be on the Dark Lord's side, so he shouldn't be hindering Draco," Narcissa said.

"I'll talk to Professor Snape tomorrow. Mother, do you think you should write to father and let him know that you're safe in hiding? You could ask him not to look for you," Draco suggested.

"No, I don't think that would be a good idea, my dear. He might find some clue as to where I am or realize that I'm still in communication with you and blow your cover. He can wait until we're both in hiding," Narcissa answered.

"But what's he gonna say when he gets out? Is he gonna be mad at us?" Draco asked concerned.

"Your father loves us very much. I'm sure that he will still love us even when he realizes that we failed the Dark Lord. He'll leave the Dark Lord's service to protect us," Narcissa replied.

"If you're so sure of that, why not tell him the truth?" Harry asked. He didn't want to tell Lucius the truth, but he also didn't believe that Lucius would side with Draco and Narcissa over Voldemort. He was hoping Narcissa would admit that she didn't trust her husband.

"Because I don't want to put him in that position. Draco and I have no way of getting him out of Azkaban and the Dark Lord does. I won't make him chose his family over his freedom. We will wait until he has his freedom and then give him the choice," Narcissa answered.

Narcissa's words settled it, because Harry could think of nothing to say to that. Draco took his letter back and put it in his school bag, which was still on the back of his wheelchair.

After dinner, Narcissa helped Draco write Professor Snape a note informing Snape of the letter from father and their suggestions regarding what ought to be done. Once the note was finished, Harry took it down to the dungeons, knocking on the door to Snape's office, before entering. Ron was there serving his detention and practicing occlumency, but Harry paid Ron no mind as he walked up to Snape and passed over the confidential note.

"Very well. I shall come in the morning to discuss this. You may go Mr. Potter," Snape dismissed Harry.

Harry went straight back to the room of requirement. He told Draco and Narcissa what Snape said about coming by in the morning and then Harry and Draco went into the study to do homework.

"Harry, I've been meaning to ask you; why is there a third desk in here?" Draco asked. He had first noticed it the night he and his mother moved in, but he hadn't gotten a good look at it that night and he had been too tired and worn out to ask. The desk was plain and empty, so there were no clues as to why it existed.

"Well Hermione was in here with me Tuesday. I was upset after Snape wouldn't let me stay with you and Hermione stayed with me. We did some homework in here and the room made the extra desk for her to sit at," Harry answered.

"I thought you spent that time alone. It must've been hard pretending to not be upset about the baby when it just happened," Draco replied.

"Well when I was fighting with Ron, I sort of let it slip that you almost miscarried because of him," Harry admitted. He suddenly realized that he had only told this to Snape and had forgotten to mention it to Draco.

"You _what_!?"

"Ron didn't understand why I was so mad or why you were so hurt."

"I thought you told everybody it was the sectumsempra thing?" Draco asked, barely controlling his angry.

"That was what I told everyone else but Ron and Hermione. It just slipped out before I had time to think about it, but at least he doesn't know the baby is mine."

"So like Granger, he thinks the baby is someone else's?" Draco asked. He was still mad, but if Harry had used the same cover, then maybe they could still make this work.

"Well yes…but…"

"But what?"

"But Hermione figured out that the baby is mine. Don't worry, because Ron doesn't know and Hermione promised not to tell."

"Yeah, that's what she says now, but when she's under the cruciatus curse, it's gonna be a different story."

"I trust her, Draco. I really don't think she'd betray us, even if her own life is on the line. She's too invested in my side of the war. She's a muggleborn, so there's no switching sides for her."

"Maybe she wouldn't betray you, but I think she hates me."

"She's been really accepting of us. I don't think she'd betray you and I know she'd never do anything that would hurt our baby. She wants the chance to get to know you better; that's why she wants to come over tomorrow."

"I think you're letting her in too close. You need to play your cards closer to the vest. _Not_ _one_ of my friends has figured out that I'm pregnant and _four_ of yours have gotten too close."

"But you have Snape and your mum. All I have is Dumbledore, Dobby, and Hermione. And Snape told Dumbledore, not me, so that's not my fault. Dobby swears he's loyal to me and Hermione is too. She's learning occlumency and she's picking it up faster than I am. Isn't that what you wanted? You said that I could tell someone if they were absolutely loyal to me and knew occlumency."

"You haven't mentioned anything about her occlumency lessons. You said she started them and nothing more."

"Well she's had a few of them now and she said that Snape said she's loads better than me. Ron is learning it too," Harry revealed. He didn't want to mention Ron's name, but he thought that Draco should know.

"We'll see."

"What's that mean?"

"That means that I want to test her occlumency myself. If I can get through, when I'm still learning and can barely get through your apples, then she's definitely not safe."

"And if you can't?"

"Then I'll ask Professor Snape. If he thinks her occlumency is good enough, then we trust her," Draco replied. He wanted it first hand from Professor Snape that Granger knew occlumency, not third hand from Harry. Draco trusted Harry, but Harry was too trusting with his friends. What if one of them stabbed him in the back? Harry'd probably turn around and forgive the arsehole while in the throes of death.

"Well then that settles it. Let's get back to our homework," Harry replied, changing the subject.

* * *

Author's Note: How do you think Lucius will react when he finds out?

Please review!


	36. Chapter 36

Author's Notes: No censorship was needed in this chapter.

* * *

When Harry woke up Saturday morning, it was to the sound of the door to the room of requirement opening. After being almost trodden on by Snape two mornings in a row, Harry had grown accustomed to listening for the sound of Snape's arrival, even in his sleep. Harry rolled over and pulled his legs up, before Snape was even in the hut. Harry was sitting in a chair by the closet by the time Snape entered the room.

"Morning Mr. Malfoy," Professor Snape said loudly, hoping to wake his young charge up quickly.

"Ughhhh, can't I sleep in today?" Draco asked annoyed. He had only had two nights uninterrupted sleep, since mother charmed his bladder to empty itself on Wednesday. And even that was fitful, because he kept tossing and turning, trying to get into a comfortable position. His back ached no matter what he did and he was tempted a few times to wake Harry up just to ask Harry to rub his back.

"No. I have a report to make to the Dark Lord and there are matters we must attend to before I go," Professor Snape said.

"You're gonna see Him today?" Harry asked stunned. He knew Snape was a spy and what that involved, but the reality of his teacher leaving school to stand face to face with the face of evil itself…well that reality still hadn't quite sunk in. Now thoughts of all the things Snape knew, but Voldemort couldn't, ran threw Harry's head. Would Snape be able to stand up to Voldemort? Would Draco and the baby be safe? Or would Snape cave under pressure and let something slip?

"Yes, Mr. Potter. Some of us have to put our necks on the chopping block while you school children play," Professor Snape replied.

"What are you gonna tell him?" Draco asked nervously. Whatever Snape said, Draco would have to confirm it in letters to his father and chats with the other Slytherins.

"That is what we are going to find out, but first I need to preform one last check up," Professor Snape replied.

Draco groaned, but threw his covers aside to grant the professor access. Professor Snape did his usual tests and proclaimed, "You are recovering nicely Mr. Malfoy. You won't need the chair today, but please stick to light exercising, such as walking and swimming and no sexual activity of any kind."

"Arggh, still?" Draco complained feeling like a martyr. He was horny and hadn't had any sexual activity since Monday.

"Yes Mr. Malfoy, still."

"For how much longer?" Draco whined.

Harry felt bad for Draco. Harry had given himself a pleasurable release in the bathroom last night after Draco and Narcissa went to bed and Harry felt bad that he was still allowed to, when Draco was not. Harry wouldn't have done it at all, but he was supposed to be stretching himself and with the conditioning potion, it just felt so good that he couldn't help it.

"For as long as it takes the connection between the embryo and your uterine walls to fully heal and stabilize, Mr. Malfoy. You do not seem to grasp that during your near miscarriage, your body started to sever that connection. That is why you were bleeding and why you cannot risk certain activities. In another month and a half the placenta should be fully formed and functional and your illicit activities with Mr. Potter should be safe again."

"A month and a half? Merlin's pants!" Draco exclaimed.

"Draco, it's for the baby; it'll be alright," Harry said, stepping forward and taking Draco's hand. Harry hadn't known why Draco had bled before and he hadn't thought to ask, but after hearing Snape's explanation for it, Harry wanted to cry and punch Ron again. Maybe killing Ron wouldn't make Draco heal any more quickly, but it would make Harry feel better about the situation to take his frustrations out on the person who caused it all.

"Fine, whatever. Let's figure out our story for father and the Dark Lord. I need to write father a reply anyway," Draco said. He had shown his letter from father to Professor Snape yesterday during his free period, which was why his professor was here bothering him first thing in the morning.

"Let us go into the sitting room, shall we?" Professor Snape asked, not wanting to conduct any more business at a student's bedside than necessary.

"Yeah, alright," Draco replied sitting up and letting his feet dangle over the edge of the bed.

Professor Snape held out an arm and Draco took it, to steady himself as he stood. Draco didn't think he'd need it, but took it anyway. Draco's stomach rolled as soon as he stood. Draco clasped a hand over his mouth and willed the heaving not to start.

Harry recognized the panicked queasy look on Draco's face and the hand over the mouth and went straight for the saltines in the bedside drawer. "I think Draco needs to eat first," Harry said pulling out two crackers and holding them out to Draco.

Draco grabbed the crackers and shoved them down his throat before he could start puking again. Then Dobby appeared with a pop and silently held out a glass of pumpkin juice for Draco. Draco grabbed it and sat back down on the bed to drink it.

"Very well, we shall have breakfast and then get down to business," Professor Snape replied defeated. At least the boy hadn't actually started puking again.

Harry called Dobby and arranged for breakfast, while Narcissa came in and helped Draco get dressed. The four of them had breakfast together on the dining patio. There was a discussion between Narcissa and Snape about Draco not putting on enough wait. Harry pointed out that the baby was only conceived a little more than a month ago. Narcissa shocked Harry when she revealed that traditionally pregnancy is counted from two weeks before the date of conception, which meant that Draco was just shy of two months pregnant. Snape added on the detail that Draco's due date was in December. Harry began to panic as he really how soon that was coming up.

When they were done eating, they set to work on the letter to Lucius. Narcissa snapped her fingers to signal Dobby to clear away the dirty plates. It was only Draco, working on a bowl of fresh fruit, who was left eating. Thus all of the breakfast remains disappeared, except for the fork and bowl Draco was using and a fresh glass of pumpkin juice.

"So what are we gonna tell Lucius and Voldemort?" Harry jumped right in and asked.

"In my last meeting with the Dark Lord I let on that I had discovered Draco's plan to complete his project. Draco was struggling with it, but I was able to point him in the correct direction and so I suspected the project would be completed shortly. However, I pointed out that it would not be feasible for me to help with the final stage of the plan until the end of term and Voldemort agreed. He therefore decided that I was to stall Mr. Malfoy's completion until the opportune moment," Professor Snape said.

"What is this project?" Harry asked curiously. He had been trying to find out what Draco was supposed to do for Voldemort all year and now the answer seemed to be dangling right in front of him and he couldn't help but ask.

"That cannot be divulged at the present time," Professor Snape replied.

"Does Professor Dumbledore know? Maybe he can put a stop to it," Harry replied.

"Unfortunately, Professor Dumbledore has ordered me to carry through with it, despite my protests. There is nothing I can do but comply or quit it all," Professor Snape replied.

"Dumbledore _ordered_ you to actually do it!" Draco exclaimed in shock. How could Dumbledore order Professor Snape to kill him? Did Dumbledore want to die?

"Yes," Professor Snape replied.

"Oh my," Narcissa replied. She remembered the unbreakable vow Severus had sworn to her. She hadn't thought about it since being rescued, but it now occurred to her that either Severus or Dumbledore had to die, because of it.

"I don't want to do it," Professor Snape admitted. There was no one he could talk to about this, besides Narcissa. He didn't want the boys involved in his problem, but Draco was already involved and Harry didn't know what he was talking about.

"Then don't," Harry replied.

"He can't. He swore an unbreakable vow to do it if I fail," Draco said sadly. He regretted that he had put his favorite professor in this position. He and mother should have fled and gone into hiding the moment father was captured and then none of this would be happening. Well the Dark Lord would have probably found some other student to kill Dumbledore and Professor Snape would've still gotten involved, but then it wouldn't be his fault.

Harry remembered back to Slughorn's party and sneaking out to spy on Draco and Snape. Harry felt vindicated now that he knew he was right about Snape taking the unbreakable vow to help Draco.

"I shouldn't have made you swear it, but it was the only way I could think of to keep Draco safe. I wouldn't have worded it the way Bella did if I had cast it," Narcissa said.

"Not to worry Cissy; that vow helped me gain support in his circle and I really do want to shield your son from making the same mistakes I made in my youth," Professor Snape replied.

"So if you don't do it, you die?" Harry asked for clarification. He couldn't imagine what it was that Snape didn't want to do; his professor had never been a coward before, but maybe Snape was to torture muggles or some other repulsive act.

"Yes," Snape answered. He would let Narcissa and Draco fill in the alternative in their own heads.

"Well then if Dumbledore wants you to do it, then you must do it," Narcissa said.

"I know; I'm just tired of the double life and this will be crossing a line I have never been made to cross," Professor Snape admitted. He let the silence fill the room for a minute before he spoke again. "Enough of my problems; I will do what the Dark Lord and Professor Dumbledore agree I must do. We need to discuss the new things I am to tell the Dark Lord today. Draco, I like your suggestion that you have been caught sneaking out to find your mother. I will say you were caught for a third time last night after receiving the letter from your father."

"That was mother's idea, actually," Draco replied. The letter he had written told of the idea, but not the details of who came up with it.

"Then my congratulations must go to Lady Narcissa," Snape replied before continuing. "Obviously the Dark Lord will either have heard about Draco's injury or he will hear about it in the near future; that will have to be worked in. Draco is rumored to be staying with me, so I shall say that I caught Draco trying to leave my quarters last night, even though he is still gravely injured. I had to stop him, for his health and twice previously other teachers have found Draco sneaking out and stopped him."

"Are you going to tell him about the sectumsempra thing?" Draco asked, wondering how much his professor could lie to the Dark Lord and get away with.

"Yes, I have no choice. It is all over the school and he has eyes and ears in this place," Professor Snape replied. "But as I happen to be the authority on that particular obscure bit of dark magic, he will believe me when I tell him the curse wounds are tainted and easily pop back open with little provocation; no one has ever survived a straight on blast like that before. This will also come in handy when Draco disappears at the end of term, because I will say he is too injured to aid the noble cause and doesn't want to be captured by Aurors or the Order."

"Good. I don't want anyone to suspect that he's with me at Order headquarters," Harry replied.

"Speaking of which, we have received your first order of paternity clothing. Should I send it along to headquarters?" Snape asked.

"Um no, can I have the pants now?" Draco asked. His current pants were getting tighter every day. His stomach was not pouched out much, but it was still uncomfortable having the pressure of the waistband against his lower abdomen.

"The robes can be sent along to headquarters, just as long as they are left somewhere that no one will find them," Harry added.

"Very well. I will send the pants up here and the robes to headquarters. You need not worry about security, because I will be warding the room against intruders; only the four of us will be able to enter," Professor Snape replied.

"Is there anything else we need to discuss about the Dark Lord?" Narcissa asked.

"Yes, there is the matter of Draco's letter to his father," Professor Snape replied.

"Let me get out some parchment and a quill," Draco said, reaching around only to find that he was not sitting in his wheelchair and didn't have his school bag on the back of his chair. He had only been using the chair for a few days, but had already grown used to the convenience. Instead he had to summon his school bag to retrieve his things.

While Draco was getting out the writing supplies, his empty fruit bowl and fork vanished along with the sticky caramel sauce on the table. The table was clean and ready, so the four of them got to work crafting the perfect letter to send Lucius. It had to sound like it was from Draco and that he hadn't heard from his mother and was very worried. It also had to include mention of the latest injury and since Draco couldn't remember if he had told Lucius about the previous injury, he made sure to include that too along with a vague request for his father to help him seek vengeance against Weasley and Potter for almost killing him twice in a month's time.

It took an hour and several revisions, but finally Draco was left with the final version and just had to copy it over onto a clean piece of parchment. After that Snape left and Harry got ready for his day. Harry had Quidditch practice soon, so he had to go back to Gryffindor tower to get his Quidditch gear. Harry kissed Draco goodbye and told Draco he loved him and then was off to confront the reality of the rest of the world. In the room of requirement life was simple and easy and was just about Draco and the baby. Sure there was homework and occlumency and preparing for war with Snape and Narcissa, but there was no having to deal with Ron and the rest of the Quidditch team.

Harry ran into Ron in their dorm room, where Ron was putting on his Quidditch gear. "Harry!" Ron greeted enthusiastically. Harry was back and this was Ron's chance to fix his major fuck up.

"Hi," Harry replied weakly.

Dean was also there getting changed, because he was their substitute and continued to practice with the team, along with their other substitute, Cormac McLaggen. Harry was considering telling Ron he was out and putting McLaggen in, but Harry wasn't so sure he wanted to keep playing himself. Their last match of the year was only a week away; it would decide the winner of the Quidditch cup, but also it would probably be the last game Harry or Ron ever played. Harry would be in hiding next year with Draco, not back at school and he couldn't imagine Ron going back without him. Harry just had to get through one more week of practice and then one more game and this would all be over and it would be someone else's problem. Harry hoped that Ginny would be captain next year, but as long as it wasn't him, he would be happy.

"Look Harry, I meant what I said yesterday: I'm really sorry. And I'm gonna apologize to Malfoy too, just as soon as I see him. He's not around much anymore and even his cronies said they don't see him outside of classes," Ron said, abandoning the protective padded helmet he had been about to put on.

"Yeah, okay. Let's just concentrate on practice and get through our game next week," Harry said, not wanting to get into it. He wasn't ready to forgive Ron, especially not after hearing the way Snape had described Draco's injuries this morning. Of course it made since that the embryo would separate from the uterus during a miscarriage, but Harry had never considered that in context with it being _his_ baby that that was happening too. Thinking about it just made all the pain of the near miscarriage fresh again.

"Yeah, alright," Ron replied. It sounded like Harry was going to forgive Ron.

"Great, let's get down to the pitch," Dean said, hoping to keep everything neutral so that he wouldn't have to break up a fight between their seeker and their keeper.

And so Harry finished getting ready and the three boys went down to practice. Harry got so involved with coaching that he forgot about his issues with Ron. Ron stayed out of the way and never once got in Harry's face during practice, so the entire practice passed without incident. Well except for when McLaggen tried to insist that he should be allowed to play, because Ron was to be in detention most of the week. Ron would only be able to make their Wednesday practice and only that if Harry moved it to before dinner again. Harry told McLaggen to shove off. McLaggen would play if Ron was injured and that was the end of it.

Harry left practice feeling exhausted and went back to the room of requirement to find Draco lying on the beach with a picnic spread out in front of him. "What's all this?" Harry asked, coming over. He expected to find it all half eaten, because of Draco's appetite lately, but it was untouched, even though Draco was eying it like Draco was starving.

"I had Dobby make us lunch. I've been waiting for you," Draco replied, sitting up.

A smile lit up Harry's face when he realized that Draco had arranged a date for them. All of the other times Harry had suggested the date and Draco had agreed; this was the first time Draco had shown any initiative in their relationship. "It looks wonderful, thank you," Harry said, kneeling down in front of Draco to give Draco a kiss. The kiss turned into a snog when Draco fervently kissed Harry back. Harry broke the kiss when he needed an intake of breath. "What was that for?"

"I'm sooo horny," Draco whined. His dick was hard and throbbing in his pants. He had woken up that morning with a hard on and the only thing that made it go away was the presence of Professor Snape and his mother. He wanted a wank so badly that he could barely concentrate all morning when Harry was gone, hence his decision to arrange this picnic on the beach.

"I know, but the longer you wait the better it'll be for the baby. I promise I'll make it good as soon as we get the okay," Harry said, sitting down on the sand and pulling Draco into his arms.

"Yeah, I know, it's just hard," Draco complained. Draco was fairly sure Harry was wanking himself when doing his stretching, which meant Harry was getting some and Draco wasn't; it wasn't fair.

"So what did Dobby make us?" Harry asked, changing the subject.

"Roast turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and broccoli and carrots," Draco answered, shifting his bum around in Harry's lap. He didn't want to hurt the baby, but he couldn't help trying to provoke Harry into action. If they could just get caught up in the moment long enough to stop thinking about what they were doing…

"I thought you didn't like poultry now that you're pregnant," Harry replied, remembering that lunch with the chicken Draco couldn't eat. Ever since then he hadn't seen Dobby bring Draco chicken.

"That's chicken, not turkey. I was craving turkey earlier," Draco answered. Turkey and a nice wank sounded about perfect right now.

"Well let's dig in," Harry said putting his hands on Draco's hips to still them. Draco was giving him a boner the way Draco kept wiggling in Harry's lap and that needed to stop or he was going to have to remove his boyfriend from his lap, no matter how pregnant and emotional Draco was.

Harry and Draco ate and enjoyed their picnic on the beach. Afterwards Harry told Draco about his morning on the Quidditch pitch and Draco told Harry about his morning with the history books. Draco had a big term paper he was working on. Draco was supposed to have started it at the beginning of the year, but really he didn't start it until last month when his mother was rescued. Thus Draco was spending all of his free time catching up on it, hence the perpetual scattering of books on his desk in the study.

Instead of their usual afternoon wank, Harry and Draco practiced their occlumency and legilimency. Harry had improved enough that he was ready for the next step and thus would have to ask Hermione for his occlumency book back when he saw her tomorrow. Draco was glad Harry was improving in occlumency and upset at the same time, because he was unable to find out if Harry had been wanking when Harry did his stretching or not.

After occlumency the boys went for a slow walk in the lilac forest, because Draco was trying not to push it too much for his first day without the wheelchair. The boys sat on the banks of their pond and talked while they ate lilikoi and guavas. Then Draco went back into the hut for a nap and Harry hit the books to study. That was followed by a pleasant dinner with the two boys and Narcissa.

After dinner the three of them went to the sitting room. Narcissa had everything there already; the order form and the baby furniture catalog along with multiple lists cluttered the coffee table. Narcissa was prepared for the meeting as if she were going to war. She deftly and swiftly presented her case for why Harry and Draco needed dozens of additional items, from a highchair to a jumper and all of the things she had mentioned before. There were nappy bags, nappy pails, nappy organizers, and changing pads. There were bathtubs, baby shampoo, baby lotion, and bathing seats. There were stuffed toys, rattles, night lights, and activity stations.

By the end of it, Harry was on information overload. He just wanted to agree to it all and get it over and done with.

Draco was in a buying mood and found himself agreeing with most of his mother's arguments. He shot down a few things as unnecessary, but mostly he acquiesced and picked out the one he like best from each list. It helped that his mother had researched each item for him and knew which ones were the best choices, so all he had to do was take the top one to three picks and say which one was cutest. With all the stuff they were ordering, they could probably fill up a room bigger than the nursery and that was with just one baby.

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Author's Note: Hermione's visit is tomorrow! Yeah!

Please Review!


	37. Chapter 37

Author's Note: This chapter has been censored. To read the full version, go to AO3; you can find the link on my profile page.

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Harry returned to the bathroom with his prepared potion applicators. Draco was in the large tub, which was already filled with water and bubbles. The whole scene had a sort of a wavy quality to it, as if it was being viewed by someone who was dizzy; Draco was dizzy with excitement that this was finally happening after so many days of celibacy. Harry shut and locked both doors, before casting a silencing charm, so they wouldn't be disturbed. Harry placed the potion filled applicators and his wand on the ledge of the tub and then stripped off his clothes and climbed into the tub next to Draco.

"So do you think this means I can start sleeping in the bed with you again, or do I still have to sleep on the floor?" Harry asked, wrapping an arm around Draco and pulling Draco onto his lap.

"Don't push it; mother's not exactly happy about the situation," Draco replied, snuggling into Harry's side and handing Harry the wash cloth. "Wash my back?" His back hurt again and he was hoping for another back rub, although there was something strangely familiar about this scene and he had the sense of déjà vu.

"Yeah," Harry replied, starting to wash Draco's back.

"I think mother is more worried, because of the baby. Once Professor Snape clears me for sex again, she'll be more comfortable with us sleeping in the same bed."

"That doesn't make sense. Right now there is no way I could shag you, but once you're cleared for sex, I'm totally gonna be wanking you like every night," Harry replied, abandoning the washcloth and massaging Draco's sore back with his bare hands. Harry somehow knew all the right places to apply pressure.

"Well if you did it right now, it would be a big deal. If you do it later, then no one will know," Draco replied.

"Yeah, I guess. I'll just keep sleeping on the floor," Harry said, trailing his hands lower.

"So I should probably do you now," Draco said, grinding his arse over Harry's rock hard dick.

"Yeah." Harry continued his massage of Draco's lower back.

"Okay, well how do you want to do it then? In the bathtub or on the floor?" Draco asked, not sure what to do, since the bed was unavailable. Well the bed was still there, but with all the open windows mother could see in if she was out on the beach or on the dining patio. He was _not_ comfortable with doing this somewhere mother could see and this bathroom was pretty much the only place within the room of requirement where mother wouldn't see, unless they went into the ocean or the forest that is.

"In the tub," Harry said, getting on his knees facing the edge of the tub and resting his arms over the rail. Harry grabbed his wand from the bathtub ledge and cast his usual three preparatory spells.

"Can I borrow your wand?" Draco asked as he inserted the stretching potion. Harry nodded and handed over his wand, which Draco used to cast the finger extension charm, before returning it to the ledge.

*censored*

Draco was cumming in the bathtub with Harry and then he was cumming all over his bed and his chest. He was lying on his stomach panting, with his pants and pajama bottoms worked halfway down his dick. His blanket was tossed off to the unused side of the bed, but he was still sweating as he came down from his orgasm. The orgasm he wasn't support to have, because of the baby. "Shite!" Draco exclaimed, sitting up and smearing cum all over his pajamas. "What's going on?" Harry asked from the floor, just waking up.

"I didn't mean to. I was asleep," Draco said, beginning to panic. This was not good. Professor Snape would be away for the rest of the day, so Draco couldn't go to him for help. That only left mother, so Draco quickly shoved his naughty dick back in his pants and called, "Mother!"

"Calm down, it's going to be okay," Harry soothed getting up from the floor and trying to figure out what was wrong. If Draco had puked, then Harry could just vanish the mess and get the house elves to clean the sheets. But it didn't look like puke on the sheets.

"What's going on?" Narcissa asked, running into the room.

"The baby," Draco replied, still panicking.

"What about the baby?" Harry asked.

"What happened Draco? What's this white fluid all over you?" Narcissa asked. She was about to wipe it off of her son, but then she thought better of it, remembering a very similar incident when Draco was twelve. Draco had been panicked and covered in white fluid that morning too.

"Draco?" Harry asked confused. Now that Narcissa mentioned it, the fluid Draco was covered in looked and smelled like cum.

"I had a wet dream mother. I'm so scared. Is the baby going to be alright? I know I wasn't supposed to, but I couldn't control it," Draco said, between rapid breaths. At least he wasn't crying this time unlike when he was twelve.

"Sshh, it's okay. Calm down Draco. The baby is probably fine; just give me a chance to perform a few spells.

"Here, let me clean you up," Harry said, pulling out his wand. He waited for Draco to nod and then he vanished all of the spunk off of his boyfriend. He had never had his mum walk in on a wet dream before, but he had had to explain why his sheets were dirty to Aunt Petunia before. That had been embarrassing. Harry was almost mortified for Draco, but he was too busy being concerned about the baby to dwell on it.

Harry and Draco waited as Narcissa cast the diagnostic spells. When each one was complete she assured the boys that the results were normal, but only when she finished the lot did she declare that the baby was fine and healthy. Harry was so relieved that he scooped Draco up into a great big hug, which Draco eagerly returned.

"I'mma go take a bath," Draco said, glad that he still had the freedom to walk around and bathe on his own again.

Harry offered his arm to escort Draco to the bath, just in case.

Draco took Harry's arm and then reconsidered doing so. Draco liked it when Harry waited and doted on him, but not now, when Harry was making him feel like an invalid. "You know, you don't have to escort me down the hall," Draco said, considering pulling his arm away from Harry as they walked. Draco could picture Harry falling on his face as Draco jerked away.

"Oh, um, but I wanted to ask you when I ought to tell Hermione to come over," Harry replied, needing an excuse to stay near Draco when he was still concerned about Draco and the baby. Harry really should have remembered to ask this and it popped into his head now that he needed an excuse for following Draco around like a mother hen.

"I thought mother said we'd have her around for tea? That means three," Draco replied.

"Well it's just that a lot of times you like to take a nap after tea, so I thought it might be better to have her over after lunch and let her stay through tea. Then we could send her off after tea when you're tired."

"Yeah, that does sound like a good idea," Draco conceded as they reached the original bathroom. It was the same one that was the setting for his dream. He turned and looked pointedly at Harry. "If you're coming in with me, then you better be wanking me." He had just cum, but all that had done was relieve the burning need in his ballocks; he was still a bit horny and could do with a second round.

"Um, no, I'll just get dressed and tell Hermione the new plan," Harry replied blushing. He wanted to wank Draco, but they wouldn't know if that was okay until they could talk to Snape.

"Too bad; that's what we were doing in my dream," Draco said, before shutting the door in Harry's face. Harry had a stunned look on his face and it made Draco smile as he stripped and cautiously lowered himself into the tub.

While Draco bathed, Harry got dressed and went to Gryffindor tower to find Hermione. His map showed that she was still in the girl's dorm, so when he saw a third year witch come down, he asked her to go back up and fetch Hermione for him.

The girl complied and Hermione came down in her pajamas a moment later. "What is it Harry? Is something wrong?" Hermione asked worriedly as she descended the last flight of stairs.

"No, we've just had a change of time," Harry said. Hermione was closer now, so he lent in and whispered the next part, even though the common room was empty, because he didn't know if his voice would carry up the stairs or who was on the landings. "We want you to come by after lunch and stay through tea; Draco likes to nap after tea."

"Oh, okay. Maybe we could work on our defense against the dark arts essay while he's asleep," Hermione suggested.

"Maybe. Let's start with snorkeling and tea and see where it goes. Oh and be prepared: Draco wants to test your occlumency skills himself," Harry replied.

"Well that's a good sign," Hermione said. Harry gave her a funny look, so she explained herself. "If he wants to test my occlumency, then he must be willing to have me around. It's the first step in getting him to trust me."

"If you say so, Hermione. Oh and I need my occlumency book back."

"Alright, I'll bring it with me when I come."

"I better get back."

"I'll see you later then," Hermione replied, climbing the stairs to get ready before breakfast.

Harry went back to the room of requirement and called Dobby for breakfast.

"Yes Harry Potter sir?" Dobby asked.

"Can you bring us breakfast for three, Dobby?" Harry asked, trying to figure out what Draco would want this morning.

"Dobby is already making breakfast, sir. Draco Malfoy, sir, already asked Dobby to make breakfast, sir," Dobby replied.

"Oh great! Carry on Dobby," Harry replied smiling. Draco must've called the elf from the bathtub.

Harry went inside and found Draco getting dressed in the dragon room. "I told Hermione. She'll be here after lunch," Harry said.

"Good," Draco replied pulling on his summer robes over the long sleeve swim shirt the room had provided him. He didn't want Hermione seeing his second cervix, so he had asked for a shirt that would cover it and be appropriate to swim in.

Harry noticed all of the layers Draco was putting on, while dressing in his swim trunks for the beach. Harry himself had his school robes on over his swimming trunks, but not so many layers. "Are you trying to hide your body from Hermione? You don't look fat," Harry tried to reassure Draco. On the television, pregnant women were always concerned about looking fat.

"Yes, but that's not it," Draco admitted.

"Then what is?" Harry asked confused.

"This," Draco said, lifting up his summer robes and the swim shirt a few inches to show the second cervix.

"Draco, that little bit of bulge is nothing; she won't even notice it," Harry replied.

"No, not the bulge, the stupid ugly nub that is the bane of my existence."

"You're exaggerating," Harry replied, but took a second look. Okay, the cervix was fairly noticeable, but he had grown accustomed to it. It was a dusty rose shade of pink, just a few shades darker than Draco's nipples. The skin there was shiny and made Harry think that it would be covered in mucus, but Harry knew from experience that it was dry to the touch. Not that Harry had touched it much, because he was a bit afraid of it, but he had accidentally brushed across it a few times.

"No I'm not and I don't want her to see," Draco replied.

"Alright, whatever you want," Harry said.

"Boys, breakfast is ready," Narcissa called.

Harry and Draco went out to the dining patio and Harry was a bit surprised to find three plates of spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread.

"I must say I was a bit surprised Harry when I saw it, but it looks wonderful," Narcissa said pleasantly.

Harry was about to blame it on Dobby, but then he remembered. "Draco ordered it," Harry said.

"Yeah, I was craving spaghetti," Draco said, digging in.

The three of them ate breakfast and then Harry and Draco spent the morning doing homework in the study.

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Author's Note: The long awaited Hermione and Draco chapter is next. Please review!


	38. Chapter 38

Author's Notes: No censorship was needed in this chapter.

* * *

The three of them ate lunch in silence, before Narcissa remembered their guest was coming and decided to grill Harry for information on his friend. "Now Draco tells me her parents work with teeth. What exactly do they do with them?" Narcissa asked. Draco had told her that Harry's friend was muggleborn, so she wanted to know enough about her that she wouldn't accidentally offend her. From the way Draco told it, Harry only had two friends and the other one was the Weasley that had attacked Draco earlier in the week, which left the muggleborn as Harry's only real friend. Thus Narcissa was determined to make a good impression on her, even though she was muggleborn.

"They're dentists. They clean and fix teeth. Mostly they fill cavities, so they don't hurt and don't get worse," Harry answered.

"Oh, then it's a good thing I asked; I had thought they might make china out of them," Narcissa replied. She had heard a rumor once that muggles made fine china out of teeth.

"No, sorry," Harry replied.

"Draco told me not to mention house elves in front of her. Are there any other subjects I should avoid?" Narcissa asked.

"Muggle killing and torturing," Harry replied.

"Harry, I may be a pureblood, but I'm not illogical. Of course I shouldn't mention Death Eating or pureblood prejudices in front of a muggleborn. I meant things more along the lines of no elves," Narcissa replied, somewhat offended by Harry.

"Um, Hermione is big on equality for all. So I wouldn't mention any beliefs in half-breed inferiority," Harry said thinking of Hagrid.

"We like to forget, but the Peverells were half-breeds once. They were accepted and taken in, because of their intelligence and exceptional magical skill, but they were still half-breeds," Narcissa replied. She knew what to say to ingratiate half-breed supporters, not that she agreed with them. The Peverells happened to have all of the best centaur features and none of the undesirable features or the lower intelligence seen with other half-breeds.

"I hadn't thought of that," Harry replied with a smile.

Harry answered a few more questions about Hermione, which were mostly about what Hermione liked to do, study, and which subjects she liked to study, everything. Draco was just finishing the last of his pumpkin juice when there was a knock on the door.

"I'll go get that," Harry said, standing up from his seat and rushing off to get the door.

Draco and his mother stood up and waited by the table for Hermione to come in. Harry formally introduced Narcissa and Hermione and then led her into the sitting room. Draco followed and sat himself down on the loveseat, while Hermione and Harry sat down on the couch.

"Harry tells me you've been studying legilimency, Draco," Hermione said, breaking the ice, remembering what Harry had said about Draco wanting to test her occlumency, and thinking that it would be better to get it out of the way. "It's a fascinating subject and I'd love to learn myself. I brought Harry back his occlumency book I borrowed." She pulled the occlumency book out and put it on the coffee table.

"Yes, but I've only had Harry to practice on and his mind is reminiscent of a heap of rubbish," Draco replied.

"Oh I can just imagine," Hermione replied.

"Hey! Can you two stop taking the piss out of me and just get to checking Hermione's occlumency skill?" Harry asked. He wasn't sure how introducing his boyfriend and his best friend had turned into an excuse to make fun of him.

"Yes, please do. Professor Snape has been encouraging, but I'd really like to see how I can stand up to someone else," Hermione replied.

"Well I should warn you that I'm not very skilled yet, but I'll try," Draco said and Hermione nodded.

Draco spent twenty minutes trying to break into Hermione's mind. Although his spell casting seemed to be working and he was getting in, he just kept being met with nothing but nothing. Hermione's mind was blank and empty in a way Harry's had never been. Finally Draco gave up and concluded, "Alright, she's better at occlumency than you are Harry."

"Thank you," Hermione replied happily, pleased to hear she was on her way to mastering a new skill.

"Snorkeling time?" Harry asked, relieved that Hermione had passed the first test.

Hermione and Draco agreed, so Harry showed Hermione where she could leave her things and change in the hut. Draco waited outside and went to the storage shed to retrieve the three sets of snorkeling gear. He didn't want to endure an awkward conversation where he pretended to like Hermione and Hermione tolerated him for Harry's sake, so he took off his summer robes and went into the water to put on his snorkel gear, leaving the other two sets in the sand on the beach.

Harry came back out to see that Draco was already in the water and the snorkel gear was on the beach. He pulled off his muggle shirt and handed a set of snorkel gear to Hermione, who was now wearing a conservative one piece.

"Harry, does Draco always where long sleeve shirts?" Hermione asked quietly as she put her snorkel and fins on.

"No, this is the first time. Why?" Harry asked equally as quiet. Draco's head was under water, so Harry hoped that his boyfriend would not be able to hear, but he whispered just in case Draco's head popped up.

"I was just wondering if he might be hiding a Dark Mark, if he's always wearing a long sleeved shirt, even in the ocean. It just seems a bit off."

"Oh, he's just self-conscience about the second cervix showing. He hates it, so please don't mention it," Harry said, putting the last of his snorkel gear on and not mentioning that Draco had already admitted to taking the mark. He didn't want to get into it now and he understood why Draco had done it, although he didn't think Hermione would. Somehow Harry thought that if their situations were reverse, Hermione would've let her parents die for her beliefs.

Hermione agreed and she and Harry joined Draco in the water. The three of them were in the water together, but before it could get awkward, Draco led them off on their usual circle around the small ocean. When Harry looked around, he saw a lot of the same fish he had been seeing, but he also saw many fish he had never seen before. Most impressively there was an octopus and several jellyfish. There was also a sea turtle and a dolphin that Hermione was fascinated by.

"Wow, I think half of those fish are new!" Draco exclaimed when they arrived back at the beach. He wished for some towels and three appeared, neatly laid out on the sand.

"Yeah, I haven't seen that many new fish since we first started snorkeling here," Harry agreed, struggling onto land and taking his snorkel gear off. Hermione was doing the same, while Draco had already cast a drying charm and was lying down in the fake-sun.

"I've never seen a sea turtle or a dolphin before, or a dozen of the other smaller ones," Hermione said, lying down on a towel.

"We've never seen an octopus or jellyfish before," Harry replied, casting his own drying charm and lying down on the middle towel.

"And about half of the smaller fish were new. Oh and that giant one with the bright blue and green colors is new. We've seen fish that big and about that shape, but always grey," Draco said.

"I've seen that big one before," Hermione replied. "My parents and I went down to the British Virgin Islands once and we went snorkeling. About half of the fish were fish I remember seeing there," Hermione said. She was lying on the towel on the other side of Harry with a giant smile on her face. She hadn't done something this exhilarating since last year and no one had died this time.

"The half we've seen before are all from when my parents and I went to visit Hawaii a few years ago," Draco replied. He was happy he had seen all the new fish, even if they had come from Hermione. "I think the room can only make fish and animals we remember seeing."

"Yeah, remember we thought the room must've added the sharks from my memory?" Harry asked. He was enjoying the fact that his best friend and his boyfriend seemed to be getting along.

"Yeah," Draco replied. "Are you sure you've never seen sharks in real life? I know I hadn't."

"Hmm," Harry said as he thought. And now that he was thinking about it, he could remember a sixth grade fieldtrip to an aquarium. "You know, I might've seen some like that when I went on a fieldtrip back in muggle school."

"Well I guess that settles it then. I bet the room will make new fish with every new person we invite in here to see them," Hermione replied.

"We aren't inviting _any_ new people in here Granger," Draco replied tersely. He wanted to make it clear to Harry's friend that just because he was being nice enough to graciously share his sanctuary with her for Harry's sake, it did not mean he was willing to let anyone new in. Ever.

"Oh, I didn't mean in here, in here. I meant if we asked the room for a generic ocean. You know, without the hut and the flowers," Hermione replied.

"Oh, well then that might be better," Draco said.

"Draco, how long do you think you and I will be allowed to stay in here like this?" Harry asked, changing the subject to avoid further argument.

"Professor Snape will allow it as long as mother's here to supervise, but he was talking of sending mother back to your house as soon as I'm fully recovered," Draco replied. Actually Professor Snape had mentioned that he hoped to have the villa in France ready in a few weeks, but Draco didn't want Granger to know about that.

"Oh, I was hoping longer," Harry replied. He was hoping that they would be able to stay together for the rest of the term and wake in the middle of the night to wank. It seemed that they would be forced out just as soon as wanking was possible.

"Maybe we can convince mother to stay longer," Draco said. He was all for keeping mother near him.

"Well maybe she'd want to stay longer if you stopped ordering weird food combinations," Harry teased.

"Speaking of food, it's almost time for tea. My stomach's growling," Draco said getting up and retrieving his summer robes.

"Yeah, let's change before tea time," Harry said, standing up too.

They all changed separately and met back up again in the sitting room. Then Narcissa walked in carrying the tea service. Draco had specifically suggested that she have Dobby deliver the food to her room and then have Narcissa bring it out, so that Hermione wouldn't notice that they were using house elves.

"Wow, where did all this food come from?" Hermione asked.

"The room of requirement. It provides," Draco answered mystically in a lie. Sure the room provides plenty, but Dobby's food was good too.

"The room cannot just provide food. It's one of the five exemptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfigurations," Hermione replied.

"I want macadamia nuts," Draco said to prove his point and reached out his hand above an empty space on the coffee table. A small can of honey roasted macadamia nuts appeared.

"That can't be," Hermione said as she watched Draco open the can and start eating.

"But it taste like it can," Draco replied, munching happily.

"I was worried about it too at first, but Draco was eating it and he's fine," Harry replied.

"I'm sure the room is using some exception to that exemption, such as someone leaving a large supply of nuts in a storeroom," Narcissa said, hoping to pacify Harry's friend. Now that she'd met Hermione, she remembered the annoying muggleborn girl from her trip to Diagon Alley last summer when she was buying new robes for Draco. But this was important to Draco and if there was one thing she was good at, it feigned decorum around strangers.

"Have any of you been losing weight?" Hermione asked. She too remembered Narcissa from Madam Malkin's, but she was trying to give the woman a second chance and Narcissa seemed alright so far.

"No," Draco replied. He had held steady.

"No, not that I know of," Harry added.

"I have, a bit," Narcissa admitted. "Why?"

"I think the food the room is making isn't real food. It may taste like food and go down like food, but it has no calories. It likely disappears before it comes out the other end," Hermione said.

"But Draco and I don't have anything coming out the other end anymore," Harry replied. He had thought of this before and concluded that there was no way to tell.

"I do and I don't think the guava I've eaten here have ever come out," Narcissa said. She hadn't thought about it before, but now that she had, she was starting to think Harry's friend might be on to something.

"Maybe that's why Draco's been eating so much and not gaining any weight," Harry added. "He's been eating more of the room's food than the rest of us."

"See? It's no good, we should throw it away," Hermione said, pulling her wand out to banish the tea service.

"No, don't," Narcissa said. Draco still needed to eat and if the girl vanished the food then Narcissa would have to call the elf. It would turn ugly from there.

"No wait, Hermione," Harry said as Draco reached for the cheesecake and a few biscuits. "The exotic island foods may be no good, because the room is creating them out of nothing, but the regular food is just being sent over from the kitchens."

"Draco, what are you doing?" Narcissa asked as Draco grabbed his pumpkin juice off of the tea service too. Her son had taken the entire cheesecake and three biscuits!

"I'm just saving it from Granger, mother. She can be a bit stubborn," Draco answered.

"How do you know this food is from the kitchens?" Hermione asked warily.

"I set it up. I went down and talked to Dobby about sending up our dinner and stuff if either Draco or I were in here for meal times. Trust me, all but the island food comes from the kitchens," Harry replied, grudgingly admitting to using house elf labor.

"Harry! How could you?" Hermione asked.

"Maybe we should go," Narcissa suggested to her son, thinking that she didn't want Draco nearby if the girl was going to freak out. Who knew who Hermione might take her anger out on? Narcissa was not going to have her son and grandson in the room to find out.

"Yeah, save the cheesecake. Good idea mother," Draco replied, handing the cheesecake over to his mother and grabbing his biscuits and juice. Harry raised his eyebrows at Draco, so Draco mouthed, "We'll be in the other room."

"Hermione, you're making the pregnant man try to escape with the cheesecake," Harry told his friend, hoping she would see the humor in the situation.

"Thanks a lot Potter. If this is how you treat a covert operation, mother and I might just have to leave you out of the next one," Draco snapped and Harry wondered how many cheesecake related covert operations Draco was planning.

"Oh my," Hermione said turning around to see and laughing. Within a matter of seconds she was doubled over laughing hysterically.

"Now she's laughing at me? You and your friend can just let yourselves out," Draco said looking sour.

"Harry, is your friend emotionally stable?" Narcissa asked quietly, setting the cheesecake back down. She was still concerned with whether or not it was safe to leave Draco in the same room with this one.

"Mother!" Draco complained, retrieving his precious cheesecake platter. "How could you?"

"Draco, honestly, we can get another cheesecake," Narcissa replied.

"Hermione, you need to stop laughing at my boyfriend. He's pregnant; so what if he's a little attached to his desserts," Harry whispered into her ear, hoping that she would stop laughing.

"Oh I'm sorry," Hermione said, sitting up and trying to compose herself.

"I'll be in the dragon room waiting for you two to see yourselves out," Draco said, levitating the cheesecake, three biscuits, and his pumpkin juice and heading towards the hallway.

"Draco, wait," Harry pleaded. But Draco didn't wait and Narcissa followed Draco, so Harry turned back to Hermione. "I can't believe you just did that! Everything was going fine until you had to flip out about house elves. We're not using the house elves any more than everyone else is; we're just having our food delivered a little further. And then you laugh at him when he's just worried you're gonna destroy his dessert over your elf obsession!"

"You're right, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have laughed," Hermione replied. Now she was starting to worry that Narcissa would turn back into the pureblood snob she'd first met in Diagon Alley, because of her reaction to the house elves.

"Or overreacted?" Harry asked.

"Or overreacted. But Harry, you have to admit that Draco was hilarious."

"I will admit no such thing while my boyfriend is mad at me and worse yet, he still hasn't eaten anything."

"What's the big deal? I didn't vanish it. The food is safe, so you can tell him to come back out."

"The big deal is that he pukes when he doesn't eat on time and it's been getting worse lately."

"Oh, yeah, you mentioned that before. Here, go take him a fork and a plate," Hermione suggested, retrieving a fork and a plate from the tea service.

"And you're not gonna cause any more problems when I get him to agree to come back out here?"

"Yes, I promise."

"Alright, stay put," Harry said, before taking the plate and fork down the hallway to the dragon room.

Harry found Draco on his bed eating biscuits and drinking his pumpkin juice. Narcissa was sitting in the chair and the cheesecake was sitting on the nightstand by Draco. "Hermione's calmed down. She sent you this fork and plate," Harry said, walking over to the cheesecake to put a piece onto the plate, knowing that Hermione's offering would go down better with cheesecake.

"What are you still doing here Potter?" Draco asked, taking the cheesecake and beginning to eat it.

"I'm sorry about Hermione. She just gets a little excited sometimes. I explained to her what the issues were and she promised to stop. She didn't mean to scare you two out of the room," Harry replied.

"She was laughing at me, when she was the one acting irrationally," Draco replied, in between bites of cheesecake.

"I know and she promised to stop."

"It's your fault. You ratted me out when all I was trying to do was save a perfectly good cheesecake."

"I know and I shouldn't've done that. I'm sorry. What can I do to make it up to you?"

"Promise that I'll never have to meet another one of your barmy friends and that if I do find myself in the room with one, you'll put yourself in the middle."

"I did put myself in the middle," Harry objected as he watched Draco eat.

"Not physically. You stayed put in your chair."

"Fine, next time I'll physically put myself between my friend and you."

"And what about the cheesecake?"

"And the cheesecake too. But Hermione's not a threat. She's not the physical sort. She wouldn't've touched you."

"Is she still here?" Draco asked finishing the last of his pumpkin juice, having already finished the cheesecake and biscuits.

"Yeah, I asked her to wait in the sitting room. I was hoping we might take another shot of all having tea together," Harry revealed. "It would be a shame to waste all those sweets."

"That sounds lovely Harry," Narcissa replied as Draco got up and walked out the door, leaving the rest of the cheesecake behind.

* * *

Author's Note: Please Review!


	39. Chapter 39

Author's Notes: No censorship was needed in this chapter.

* * *

Harry and Narcissa followed Draco down the hall to the sitting room. "She's not in here. Maybe Hermione went outside," Draco said as he entered the empty sitting room.

"I'll check the study," Harry volunteered as Narcissa continued on to the sitting room and he opened the door to the study. "Hermione, where are you?"

"I'm in here," Hermione called from the nursery.

"She's in the nursery Draco," Harry called, turning to go back down the hall to the nursery.

"What's she doing in there?" Draco asked, hoping that Granger wasn't messing with anything. He liked the nursery the way it way.

"Harry, what are these?" Hermione asked when Harry came into the room. She was pointing to the doll in the swing and leaning over the crib to get a better look at the other doll.

"Practice dolls. Draco and I were practicing with them the other day, but then he got sick and we completely forgot about them," Harry answered as Draco and Narcissa came into the room and joined them.

Draco took his usual seat in the rocking chair. It was the only adult seat in the room and he wanted to claim it before anyone else could get to it.

"Can I try?" Hermione asked, reaching towards the purple doll and stroking it on the cheek.

"Un uh, get your own Granger," Draco replied, not wanting Harry to cheat any more than Harry already had. "That one's Harry's and he has barely touched it. He had Dobby changing its nappy and then he plum forgot about it."

"I forgot about it, because I went to rescue you, because you were vomiting!" Harry replied, brushing over the fact that he had made Dobby change the nappy.

"House elves can't earn points with these dolls. Why don't we check them to see how many points you each have?" Narcissa suggested, tapping her wand gently on the head of the pink doll in the swing. She was hoping the children could get along without another outburst. "Two hundred fifty-eight points."

"The pink one was mine. Now find out how many points Harry has," Draco replied.

Narcissa went over to the crib and cast the same spell on the purple doll. "Five points. Hmm, let's see what you've gotten points for," she said, tapping her wand again. "Picking the doll up safely."

"Ha, mother was right: you didn't get points for cheating!" Draco replied.

"Harry, I can't believe you had Dobby in here tending to a doll so that you could cheat in a game with Draco," Hermione stated outraged.

"But I was creaming Harry miserably Granger, you have to factor that in," Draco said.

"I wasn't going to have Dobby do everything for me, but she stunk something awful and I had no clue how to change a nappy and Draco wasn't helping me at all," Harry defended himself. "I had Dobby do it, but I was watching him so that I could learn and do it myself next time. But then Draco got sick from the smell and we forgot about them with all of the vomit all over the place."

"Play nicely children," Narcissa said, excusing herself. She only went down the hall to the sitting room and continued to listen, in case things got out of hand again, but she wanted to see if Draco and Harry could solve their differences on their own and she didn't think the Granger girl was in danger of flipping out again.

"Did you really forget Harry, or did you just not want to play anymore because you were losing by so much?" Draco asked.

"I really forgot Draco. Actually, I would like another chance to practice," Harry said, looking down at the purple baby.

"Well then prove what you said earlier: if you were only having Dobby do it to learn from him, then you'll be able to change a nappy now," Hermione challenged, leaning down to pick up the doll.

"No Granger, make him pick up his own doll," Draco said, not wanting Harry to get five more points for Granger picking up the doll; that would double Harry's points.

"You know I would never have needed Dobby, if you would've just helped me in the first place," Harry replied, bending down to pick up his doll like he had done before.

Hermione looked at Draco accusingly, so he felt the need to defend himself. "I had to. He wouldn't touch the doll until I made my own and turned it into a contest. He wanted me to do all of the work and he was just going to sit back and watch. Just because I'm the one whose's pregnant doesn't mean I want to be an only parent."

"I would've helped; I just wanted to watch first, to see what to do. I've never seen a real baby before," Harry defended. "How do I make her poop again?"

"Probably by ignoring her; that worked pretty well for you last time," Draco replied smugly. Making Harry look bad in front of his Granger was fun.

"You ignored her?" Hermione asked, looking over at Harry ignoring the beautiful doll. She had captivating eyes and was moving. This was the precise type of toy she would've loved to have gotten as a child. Well this and a book.

"Yes," Draco replied.

"No," Harry protested. "I named her."

"What's her name?" Hermione wondered.

"Plumeria, like the flowers," Harry replied.

"Well that's something," Hermione said. "Do you have to wait for her to poo? Can't you just change her without the mess?"

"Oh no, he needs the mess or I won't count it," Draco replied. "And Harry only named his because he was copying me."

"Well I don't see you touching your doll. I'm gonna have more points than you soon enough," Harry replied, holding his doll close to his body, like he had seen in the parenting book.

"Oh big deal, so you have ten points. I have over two hundred. I'm running circles around you," Draco replied.

"Well I'd like to play too. How do I make a doll?" Hermione asked, thinking that it must be complicated magic.

"We're in the room of requirement. Just wish for one," Harry replied. "And Draco, I bet changing a nappy is worth hundreds of points. I could pass you up just as soon as little Plumeria shites, while little Cereus sleeps over there."

"That sounds easy enough," Hermione said walking over to the second crib and preparing to wish for a doll.

"Not that one Granger; the turtle set is mine. You can share the flower set with Harry," Draco said. She was Harry's friend so Harry could share. "And if you must know Harry, I don't want to touch mine again, because I'm worried that she might shite her nappy like yours did. I was thinking I could just wait until the nausea passes and then practice in a few months."

"You could always put her down and get Dobby to change the nappy if that happens," Harry suggested, but thinking that that would still leave Draco running to the toilet hurling.

Hermione went back over to the flower crib and wished for a doll like the ones Harry and Draco had. A little girl wearing a yellow star patterned nightgown and matching hat appeared. She had brown eyebrows and Hermione bent down to pick her up as Narcissa came back into the room.

"Draco, you should've told me that was the case. There is an option to turn off the pooping function and you can still change wee-wee nappies," Narcissa said, before tapping Draco's doll on the head and preforming the spell. "There, now she is risk free."

"Thanks mother!" Draco exclaimed, getting up to play with his doll.

Draco took Cereus back over to the rocking chair and held her. He looked into her grey eyes, before taking her clothes off to inspect her, making sure she had the right number of fingers and toes. Besides, he wanted to check her nappy for pee and change her clothes, so that he didn't get points deducted for neglect.

Hermione sat down in the corner between the crib and the dresser and played with her doll. She tried to think of a name while gently stroking the baby's soft skin. She noticed that the baby had a large head and a strong, wide forehead. The baby opened her eyes and looked at Hermione with large brown eyes and she was hooked. She looked up to see Harry standing there looking a bit lost holding Plumeria. Harry seemed completely lost and Hermione wondered how he could be anything but in love with his doll.

"Harry, she has brown eyes, come see," Hermione said, calling Harry over in hopes of giving him a few pointers.

Harry sat down next to Hermione, grateful for whatever help he could get. Sure he had read two chapters of the book, but he hadn't gotten through much of it and didn't know what to do beside holding the doll and changing the nappy.

"Don't start cheating you two," Draco warned, looking up from examining a nappy that seemed too spongy. He was going to have to open it up to examine it more closely, so he stood up and laid Cereus down on the changing table, strapping her in to be safe.

"We won't Draco, but Harry learns best when you give him a few pointers to start off with," Hermione replied, before turning to Harry. "Now where do we get bottles and milk?"

"Just wish for them," Harry answered, wishing for one and it appeared.

"That's cheating, I want to make it. I'll wish for the supplies," Hermione replied, thinking she needed another free arm. She scooted over to the flower covered bouncer in the middle of the room and put her doll down in it, before pulling it over to her corner with Harry.

"I thought you were going to show me how to feed the baby, not use one of those contraptions!" Harry exclaimed, getting overwhelmed. He still had the bottle in one hand and Plumeria in the other. Plumeria was starting to fuss.

"I'm going to do both, but if you want to get started, just put the nipple in her mouth and she'll figure it out," Hermione said, trying to figure out how to strap her baby in. The straps were different than with muggle bouncers and she could find no obvious way to join the straps, other than to tie knots and she didn't think that was right. "Harry, how do you do these straps?"

"There are directions in the book. Accio What to Expect when You are an Expectant Wizard," Harry answered. He would have done it himself, but he was slowly inserting the bottle into Plumeria's opened mouth.

Hermione did just that and set to work finding the chapter with the instructions on how to use wizard baby furniture and then the page on the bouncer instructions. While Hermione read, the yellow baby fell asleep in the bouncer and the purple baby drank the bottle as Harry held her.

Meanwhile, Draco was discovering what a soiled nappy looked like and figuring out how to change one at the changing table. He found nappies and wipes in the top drawer. It took him a few tries, but then he had it. He needed a place to toss the old nappy, so he imagined a bin in the corner between the changing table and the crib and one appeared. He tossed the nappy in the bin and went to the dresser to find new clothing, leaving Cereus safely strapped in at the changing table. He found another white onesie along with a pink nightgown and matching hat, but these ones had dragons on them. He took them back to Cereus and carefully dressed her.

Hermione finally found the simple spell to lock the yellow baby into the bouncer as Harry finished feeding his doll. "Now you have to burp her Harry," Hermione instructed.

"Burp her? How do I do that?" Harry asked.

"Put her on your shoulder and pat her back," Hermione answered.

Draco heard Hermione's instructions, but he didn't bother to volunteer any helpful advice about using burp cloths. Instead Draco took a newly redressed Cereus back over to the rocking chair, pictured another bottle, and set about feeding.

Harry did as instructed and asked, "Like this?" as Hermione willed a nappy bag to appear.

Hermione looked over at Harry and made a slight correction to his form, before saying, "Yes, you've got it," and going back to her work. She retrieved an empty glass baby bottle and a can of muggle formula from the nappy bag. Then she proceeded to make a bottle, casting an aguamenti for water. She put the nipple and lid on and shook.

"What are you doing Granger?" Draco asked confused. He had never seen someone feed a baby powder before. Sure wizards used bottles, but only with milk that was expressed from the mother or birth father.

"Making a bottle. Don't you have formula in the wizarding world?" Hermione asked, checking the temperature of the milk. It was too cold, so she cast a warming charm on it and checked again. It was too hot, so she cast a cooling charm and checked a third time.

"No. Definitely not," Draco answered, watching the strange and elaborate ritual of pouring milk on the arm that Hermione seemed to be doing.

"Then what-" Hermione started to say, but she was interrupted by Harry and forgot that she was about to ask about what happens to orphans who lose their mother within the first year; surely they don't just let babies die.

"Ew, yuck!" Harry exclaimed, standing up and putting Plumeria in her crib, so that he could examine the puke that was all down his neck and back. What was with people puking around him lately? Did he smell? Well he certainly smelled now, but did he smell before?

Draco started laughing. "Just wait until it happens to you," Harry said, annoyed at his boyfriend.

"It's not going to happen to me, because unlike you, I read the chapter on feeding infants. That includes the part where it said to expect them to spit up and recommended using a burp cloth," Draco replied, when he finally composed himself.

Hermione was finally ready to feed her baby, so she performed the spell to unfastened the straps, picked up the baby, and inserted the bottle into the little mouth, before saying, "Just vanish it and keep going Harry. You were doing so well."

"Yeah, alright," Harry agreed, pulling out his wand and vanishing the mess. He looked over at Draco and noticed that once again Draco had a pink cloth on his shoulder as Draco burped his doll. 'I guess that pink thing must be the burp cloth.'

"You're not giving up now Harry, are you? It was just getting good," Draco said as a yellow tub appeared at his feet. He had seen one of these yesterday when his mother had insisted that he would need one. He wanted to try it out, so he held Cereus with one hand and cast aguamenti with the other.

"No, I was just cleaning myself up. What are you doing?" Harry asked curiously.

"I'm trying out the baby tub mother insisted that we need. Why don't you get a different model for your baby and we can compare," Draco suggested. Harry did seem to be better at the parenting thing with a bit of help and Draco did want to see Harry succeed, because he wanted Harry to be able to help him with the real baby.

"Yeah, okay," Harry said, kneeling down next to Draco and requiring a slightly different baby bathtub that he remembered seeing in the catalog. He filled his tub with water, like Draco had. "What do I do now?"

"Put your hand in it. It should be the same temperature as your skin. If it feels cold, you need to warm it. If it feels warm, you need to cool it. You have to get it to exactly the same, when you can't feel it at all, or you'll hurt the baby," Draco instructed, grabbing a bottle of baby shampoo and a baby washcloth that he had just willed to appear. He undressed Cereus, including the nappy that was so hard to get on.

"My aunt didn't have one of those and she did just fine," Hermione said, burping her doll, using a yellow burp cloth.

"That's what I said, but mother said that this would make it easier. Why don't you do yours the regular way, that way we can find out which way is easiest," Draco suggested. He really didn't think the tub would make that big of a difference.

"Alright," Hermione replied and finished burping her baby before taking it to the bathroom to bathe in the sink.

"This seems about right. Can you double check it for me?" Harry asked as Draco lowered Cereus into the bathtub.

"Yeah," Draco agreed, keeping one hand on Cereus, like the book said, as he reached over to test Harry's bathwater. "It's fine." He grabbed the shampoo and washcloth and started washing his baby as she squirmed and wiggled out from under his slippery hand.

"Can I get some of that soap?" Harry asked, wanting to have everything ready, before he went for his baby.

"Yeah, but you gotta get your own washcloth," Draco replied, passing the soap. Harry could've gotten his own soap too, but Draco decided to be nice and share. He liked playing with Harry, not against Harry, for once.

Harry required his own purple washcloth and then retrieved his baby from the crib, taking her over to the changing table to strip. He carefully pulled up the nightgown, the way Dobby had shown him, but then was stuck. "Draco, how do I get the nightgown off of the head?" Harry asked.

"Carefully insert your hands to make the hole bigger and slide it gently over and off," Draco answered.

Harry did as instructed and was relieved when he got it after a few tries. The hat fell off in the process, so Harry carefully removed the onesie and the nappy and took Plumeria back into his arms. He was just walking back over to Draco when he heard an alarm go off in the bathroom and the words, "Warning, your baby is dead. Warning, your baby is dead." The same message repeated over and over again and Harry ran into the bathroom, with Plumeria still tucked into his side, to see what Hermione was doing to her baby.

"What's going on?" Narcissa asked, also coming to check on Hermione. She could hear the racket from the sitting room.

"I was just giving her a bath and she slipped and some water got in her mouth. It was nothing, really! A real baby wouldn't have died that easily," Hermione answered, looking frazzled as she held the dripping wet doll to her shoulder and patted it, hoping to dislodge some of the water and bring it back to life.

"Well, let me just perform the spell to check the history," Narcissa said, moving passed Harry to get closer to the girl. Hermione nodded, so Narcissa cast the spell. Words streamed out over the top of the dolls head and Narcissa read them as they appeared. "Leaving baby unattended in the bouncer without strapping her in. Picking up the bouncer with the unstrapped baby inside. Feeding baby unrecognized substance. Burping incomplete. Soap in baby's eye. Drowning. Death."

Harry turned away, snickering, as he returned to Draco. "I guess your mum was right and the little tub is easier than the sink," Harry said and Draco nodded.

"None of that should've killed her!" Hermione protested from the bathroom. She had never failed before and was mortified at the prospects of having killed her doll.

"It's alright, you can try again. I can reset your doll and you can read the instruction book," Narcissa soothed, trying to calm the girl down. The boys were finally playing well together and she hoped it wouldn't turn ugly now.

"Yeah, I'd like that," Hermione replied.

"So Granger killed her baby and yours is still alive," Draco said with a smirk.

"Yeah, I don't think she's ever failed at anything before," Harry replied smirking back. He was happy he was getting along with Draco again and amused at Hermione's failure, but then he felt something warm trickling down his arm. "Draco, what's happening?"

"Plumeria is pissing on you," Draco answered before roaring with laughter. This had to be the funniest thing ever. First Harry gets puked on, then Granger's baby dies, and then Harry gets pissed on! Draco barely remembered to keep his hand on his baby at all times as he laughed.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked, retrieving the parenting book from where she had left it on the floor. She wanted to compare it to the instruction book Narcissa had just given her, while Narcissa was in the sitting room resetting her doll.

"I got pissed on and Draco finds that hilarious," Harry answered, still smirking. It was funny, but it would be funnier if it weren't happening to him.

"How come nothing has happened to you Draco?" Hermione asked.

"Because I read the parenting book," Draco answered, calming down enough to finish bathing his baby. He required the room to provide him with a fluffy pink towel, which he then wrapped Cereus in, before taking her to the changing table to redress.

"Hey, I wanted to read the book and you wouldn't let me take the time," Harry complained, still holding Plumeria with piss dripping down his arm.

"That was days ago. Now what's your excuse?" Draco wondered out loud. He finished up the new nappy, before going back for the nightgown, onesie, and hat.

"I didn't have time to finish," Harry replied.

"Well you saw me bathe Cereus, just try to do it the same and don't let go and don't let Granger near Plumeria," Draco said.

"Hey!" Hermione complained. She hadn't done all that badly. All the things that she had done wrong were things she had seen her aunt do with her cousins.

Harry quickly washed the pee off of his arm and the doll, by dunking them in the water. But he didn't want to risk drowning his doll, so that was all he did, before willing a purple towel into existence and drying Plumeria off. Draco was just finishing his use of the changing table and sitting back down in the rocker with Cereus, so Harry took Plumeria over to the changing table to dress. He strapped Plumeria in, remembering that Hermione's list of problems with her baby included failure to strap it in. Then he went and got a new nappy and set of clothing. Hermione whispered directions over his shoulder, which made it go more smoothly.

"I'm tired," Draco said, standing up and placing a sleeping Cereus into the turtle crib. "Bye Granger."

"Bye Draco. Thank you for letting me over. I had a great time," Hermione replied as Draco left, before turning to Harry. "That went well, I think."

"Yeah. There were a few rough patches, but I had fun," Harry said as he finished dressing Plumeria and put her in the flower crib.

"Here you go dear, I reset her, so she should be ready to go next time," Narcissa said, returning the yellow doll to Hermione.

"Thank you Mrs. Malfoy," Hermione replied, taking the doll. She wanted to stay and try again, but the boys were done and she also wanted a chance to read the two books before she killed the doll a second time.

"You're welcome dear," Narcissa replied, before leaving to see after Draco. She heard him say he was tired and assumed she would find him lying down in bed, but she wanted to make sure there wasn't something that he needed.

"Just put her in the flower crib with my baby, Hermione," Harry said, bending down to move the flower bouncer back into position on the rug in the middle of the floor near the turtle bouncer. Then he picked up Hermione's nappy bag and put it on the dresser with the pink sea turtle.

Hermione walked over to the flower crib and laid her doll down on the other side of the crib from the purple doll. "Harry, can I take this parenting book with me?" she asked when she was done.

"Yeah, but it'll probably disappear as soon as you put it down. It's a room of requirement book and everything from the room seems to return to the room as soon as we set it down," Harry explained.

"Oh, then maybe I can get a copy from the library," Hermione replied.

"Yeah, but do me a favor and get the copy for what witches should expect when they're expecting. The last thing Draco and I need is people leaning over your shoulder and wondering who's the guy you've knocked up," Harry replied.

"Yeah, alright. Should I go now?" Hermione asked. She didn't want to leave. She was still mad at Ron and had no other close friends in Gryffindor tower now that Harry had left. She spent most of her time with Neville and Ginny and she really missed Harry.

"No, you can check over my homework or help me with that herbology essay," Harry replied, leading Hermione into the study.

Hermione stayed an hour more, until it was time for dinner, and then she went down to the Great Hall, while Harry stayed in the room of requirement. Draco woke up an hour later and the boys and Narcissa had a late dinner together. After dinner the boys were sprawled out in the sitting room to read, when Harry interrupted the silence to ask, "Draco?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think we can have Hermione over again sometime?"

"Yeah. It went alright. She did laugh at me, but then I got to laugh at her," Draco replied. He knew he could refuse, because there were enough things that had gone wrong today for him to have said no, but he didn't want to take Harry's only friend away from Harry, so he agreed.

"Great!" Harry replied with a huge grin plastered across his face.

"Harry?"

"Yeah Draco?"

"Thank you for trying with the dolls. That's all I wanted from you was to try," Draco said.

"Oh. So if I wouldn't've been so scared, we could've done it all together?" Harry asked hopefully. He didn't mind the doll so much now that he was getting used to her, but he liked it a lot better when he had someone there to talk him through it.

"Yeah, I'd like that," Draco replied.

Harry and Draco went back to reading. Harry had his parenting book and Draco had a history of magic book. They read for an hour more, before Professor Snape came in, fresh with details of his weekend with Voldemort. It was good news, because Voldemort bought the ruse and then Harry and Draco finally had a chance to ask Snape their question.

"I had a wet dream," Draco admitted right away. "Mother said the baby seems fine, but I wanted to ask you."

"Wet Dreams are less stressful on the baby than a waking orgasm. I suspect that if the baby was fine when your mother checked, then the baby is still fine," Professor Snape replied, but set about recasting all of the diagnostic spells, just to confirm Narcissa's diagnosis.

"Well Severus?" Narcissa asked eagerly. From where she sat, it looked as if all of the tests had come back healthy, but she couldn't read everything properly from this angle.

"Everything seems fine. We should continue to check each day, particularly when you have one of those dreams, but since you survived this one without complication, I suspect you will survive more without complications," Professor Snape said.

"Does this mean that Draco can, you know, again?" Harry asked curiously. He didn't particularly want Draco to have to go around horny all of the time.

"No. The real thing could be much more stressful on the baby. It is a good sign that the baby tolerated this well, but it is still early and the baby will benefit from every day that the two of you go without," Professor Snape said. The danger would be minimal once two weeks had passed, but if you told teenagers two weeks, they would mark the date down on their calendar and anticipate it like All Hallows Eve. And then if a complications did arise and they had to wait more than two weeks, well that never ended well. It was better to play ignorant and wait until the two weeks were up without complication and suddenly reveal good news.

"Thank you Severus," Narcissa replied.

A few more words were exchanged and then Professor Snape left, Draco and Narcissa went to bed, and Harry went into the bathroom to stretch and wank.

* * *

Author's Note: Please review!


	40. Chapter 40

Author's Notes: No censorship was needed in this chapter.

* * *

Breakfast Monday morning was interrupted when Ron's owl Pigwidgeon flew through the room of requirement and landed on the dining room table. Harry thought at first that it must be a letter from Ron to him, but the letter turned out to be from Molly to Narcissa. The Weasley family bird, Errol, was too old to deliver mail reliably anymore and Ron didn't have much need of an owl while at school, so Ron had lent Pig to Molly.

The high spirited Pig flew circles around their heads and greatly annoyed Draco, causing him to scowl at the pestilent creature who kept trying to peck scraps off of his plate. Harry offered up his bacon, before shooing the bird away.

"Molly Weasley invited me over for tea and knitting. She doesn't know where I've gone. She's confused as to why I'm no longer at headquarters," Narcissa said, tucking the parchment into her pocket. "Evidentially no one has informed her that her son nearly killed my son."

"Um, no, probably not," Harry admitted. "Ron's a bit ashamed and wouldn't just write home bragging about it."

"I'd forgotten you were growing friendly with the Weasley woman, mother. Harry, your friend ruins everything," Draco complained.

"Ron aside, Mrs. Weasley is really a nice person and you shouldn't hold Ron's actions against her," Harry said.

"I know she means well, Harry, but this isn't the first time that something like this has happened between our families. The Weasley family has a streak of men with hot violent tempers and this latest incident just goes to show that it has not died out," Narcissa said. "But I do not blame you Harry; you were not to know. You boys carry on and finish your meals, while I compose a reply," Narcissa said, excusing herself from the table.

"Mother doesn't have many friends now that we've turned our backs on the Dark Lord. She was down to just her middle sister and Mrs. Weasley and now she's down to just Aunt Andy," Draco said with annoyance.

Draco's body language made it clear to Harry that he was being blamed for the repercussions of Ron's actions. "I know and I'm really sorry," Harry placated. "I'm sure your mum will make loads of new friends once this war is over."

"Yeah, she will. And I imagine that most of her old friends will take her back once the Dark Lord is dead," Draco replied.

"Yes, I'm sure you're right. Here, you should take this apple for snack," Harry said, handing Draco his apple and changing the subject. He didn't want any more problems associated with giving Draco his daily snack, so starting on Thursday of last week, he had given Draco an apple in the morning before leaving the room of requirement. Dobby could've just given Draco an extra apple with breakfast every morning, but Harry liked being able to give Draco things, so he was glad that Dobby always put the apple on his plate.

"Yeah, thanks," Draco said, slipping the apple into the pocket of his school robes.

Harry and Draco finished up breakfast, gathered their school things, and went off to potions, separately. They were using belladonna in class that day, so Draco watched and read, but didn't touch. Harry felt guilty that he was allowed to use the poison and Draco couldn't, but there was nothing he could do about it. He wanted to spend time with Draco after class, but instead of heading back to the room of requirement, Draco went off with Blaise and Nott towards the Slytherin dungeons.

Harry was standing in the corridor outside of potions trying to decide what to do with himself when Ron approached him. "Harry? Can we talk?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, I guess," Harry replied and led Ron to a deserted archway. "What do you want?"

"Well I was wondering when you think it would be best for me to apologize to Malfoy. He's always surrounded by his gang of Slytherins, so I can never get to him," Ron said.

"Today's probably not the best time. His mum just got a letter from your mum, reminding him that you've broken up the friendship between your mums," Harry replied.

"Oh no! Malfoy's mum isn't gonna tell my mum what I did, is she?" Ron asked fearfully.

"Probably not the truth, but the sectumsempra story, yeah. I would've thought you'd tell her yourself by now. You had to know she'd find out eventually with the way it's been going around school," Harry replied.

"Yeah, but Ginny promised she wouldn't tell and Fred and George aren't around anymore, so I didn't think anyone would tell her," Ron replied.

"Whatever, that's your problem, not mine. Goodbye Ronald," Harry said before walking away. Harry secretly wished Mrs. Weasley would chew Ron out for what he'd done and maybe ground him for life too.

Harry went to the library where he found Ginny and Luna sitting at a table and they waved him over. "Why aren't you two in class?" Harry asked.

"Harper nearly got himself killed in care of magical creatures class. Hagrid took him to the hospital wing and dismissed us early," Ginny explained.

"And it was a good thing too; it gave us a chance to come here and get our own copies of this book," Luna said. She indicated the book she was reading, which was titled What to Expect When you're an Expectant Witch.

"I caught Hermione with a copy of it this morning at the breakfast table, so I told Luna, and we came here first chance we got," Ginny explained.

"Yes, the nargles have been telling me that this project was coming up for a while now. It is only a matter of time before the entire school catches on," Luna added.

"Catches on to what Luna?" Harry asked, taking a gulp and dreading the answer.

"That the room of requirement provides practice babies, or course. Everyone will want one," Luna replied and Harry let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, all of the girls will want one, but I'm not so certain about the boys," Ginny replied.

"Harry already has his and Neville will want one," Luna said.

"Is that true Harry? Do you have one?" Ginny asked expectantly.

"Yeah," Harry replied, not knowing what else to say.

"What's she like?" Luna asked and Ginny listened eagerly.

Harry told the girls about Plumeria and about Hermione killing her baby. They spent the rest of the time before lunch in the library talking about the dolls. Their conversation carried on through lunch, only with Hermione replacing Luna. Then Neville and he and Hermione started talking about their homework.

"Malfoy seems to have recovered," Ginny said to Harry, nodding to where Draco was walking out of the Great Hall.

"Yeah," replied Harry. There was so much he wanted to say, but couldn't, so he didn't have anything else to add.

"Ron feels awful about it," Ginny added.

"He told me, but he seemed more concerned over his skin when your mum finds out than with how Malfoy's doing," Harry replied.

"Are you gonna tell our mum on him?" Ginny asked. She couldn't picture Harry turning into a tattle tale.

"No, but I believe someone else will inform her in the near future," Harry replied.

"Oh, well then, can you just try to give him a chance? He's not perfect, but he's trying to make it right," Ginny said, defending her brother.

"Yeah, alright," Harry replied as the bell rang. Mostly he said it to get Ginny off his back, but he did think that eventually he'd give Ron another chance.

Hermione, Neville, and Harry went off to charms class together. After class Harry and Hermione walked upstairs together.

"Listen Harry, I had loads of fun yesterday. Can you tell him thank you again for me? And ask him when I can come over again? Anytime it's alright with the two of you, I would love to come over," Hermione said as they walked, deliberately leaving out reference to names, in case someone overheard them.

"Yeah, I'll tell him. I might even stop by the common room if he takes a nap, because I'd like to get your help on the transfigurations essay that's due Friday," Harry said.

"Yeah, that would be great. And if not today, then tomorrow," Hermione said.

The two friends parted ways, with Hermione heading towards Gryffindor tower and Harry continuing on, up to the room of requirement.

Draco wasn't back yet from his history of magic class, so Harry called Dobby and ordered some sliced fruit and veggies for a snack, remembering what Hermione had said yesterday about the room's food being no good. Then he grabbed his parenting book to read and went to sit by the door to the room of requirement to wait for Draco. It was another fifteen minutes before Draco arrived, which meant Harry finished another chapter and learned all of the finer points of nappy changing while he waited.

Harry immediately took Draco's book bag from Draco and enveloped Draco in a hug. He kissed Draco a bit, but then pulled back and said, "You look exhausted."

"Thanks," Draco replied sourly.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked concerned.

"I'm tired. I was working on my defense essay and my ancient runes homework during free period, so I didn't get a break all day and my back is killing me."

"Oh, can I rub it for you?"

"I'd love nothing more, but you know what Professor Snape said."

"I meant your back, prat," Harry replied, leading Draco into the beach bedroom.

"Yeah, alright," Draco replied, taking off his school robes and lying down on the bed. "Where's mother?"

"Haven't seen her. She's probably in her room," Harry replied, setting Draco's bag down and summoning the platter of fruits and veggies from the dining table for Draco. "Here, have something to eat."

"Yeah, well I don't want her to come in here and see me in my pants, so lock the door," Draco said, taking a wedge of orange.

Harry did as he was told and came back, ready to rub Draco's back.

"Whatever happened to the pies, biscuits, and cheesecake from yesterday?" Draco asked, as Harry massaged his aching back. "No one ever ate any but me."

"Don't know. Maybe your mum put them in the icebox," Harry replied. He concentrated on making Draco feel good for several minutes, before he spoke again. "Speaking of yesterday, Hermione said she had a wonderful time and hopes that she'll be invited back soon."

"Yeah, maybe. I guess you could have her over while I'm at tutoring tonight," Draco replied, munching on a carrot and enjoying the feel of Harry's hands on him, but wanting pie.

"Oh, I forgot about your history of magic tutoring Monday nights! I told her I might come over during your nap to work on our transfigurations essay."

"Well I think I'll take a nap after I eat, so you can do that too."

"Great."

Harry spent half an hour more on Draco's back, before Draco got up to find some blackberry pie, which he ate before taking a nap. Harry grabbed his transfigurations book and his backpack, before going to Gryffindor tower to work on his essay with Hermione.

"He's asleep then?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, he was exhausted, but listen: I forgot that he goes to tutoring Monday nights, so you're invited over after Quidditch," Harry said. This would be his first after dinner practice since being rid of his detentions with Snape, but at least Ron wouldn't be there.

"That reminds me; Ron said that he had detention with Professor McGonagall all weekend. That means Snape was gone. What do you think he was up too?" Hermione asked in a whisper.

"I know what he's up to; he told me. I don't want to talk about it here, but it was for our side," Harry replied. He would have to tell Hermione about it when they are alone in the room of requirement later. "Where's Ron now?"

"On the Quidditch pitch, since he can't be at practice later, but he should be doing his homework," Hermione replied.

After that Harry and Hermione spent two hours working on their essay, before Harry went back to the room of requirement to have dinner with Draco and Narcissa. Narcissa, as it turns out, had asked the room of requirement for a fireplace and floo powder to visit her sister Andy for tea this afternoon, explaining why she was nowhere to be seen when they got back from their classes. After dinner, Draco went to his tutoring. Harry went to his Quidditch practice. Then Hermione came over and Harry told her all about Snape's meeting with Voldemort, while they practiced with their dolls in the nursery. Hermione's doll, who she had finally given the name Jean, lived this time.

* * *

Author's Note: Up next Molly will find out what Ron did…


	41. Chapter 41

Author's Note: No censorship was needed in this chapter.

I would like to thank Lee, Nins, and AR, who gave me the inspiration to write this chapter! Thank you!

* * *

Narcissa went to visit her sister Andromeda again Tuesday morning, while the boys were in class. She had missed her sister during all those long years of estrangement and it was nice spending time with her, although it was difficult getting used to the alternative lifestyle her sister led. But now that she was no longer on speaking terms with the Weasley woman, Andy was all she had left and she did love her sister. The room of requirement was a nice place, but it was a lonely place when the boys were gone. Thus Narcissa found herself increasingly enjoying her sister's company.

Andy didn't know that Draco was pregnant, but Narcissa had told her that Harry and Draco were dating and that there was a marriage contract in the works. Andy was the person Narcissa turned to, to help her plan the wedding. And now that she had finished with the ordering catalogues and going over marriage contracts, Narcissa was free to visit her sister and work on planning the wedding. That was why she spent so much time here yesterday.

Last Friday Narcissa had sent off instructions to her lawyer to draw up Draco's half of the marriage contract and send Harry's lawyer an offer. There were a few minor points she wanted changed and then there was the major hurdle of Lucius not being there to authorize anything; without Lucius she could only give Draco the assets that they had already put in his trust fund. There were ten thousand galleons, the Malfoy Manor, the odd ancient magical artifact or two, and a set of wedding rings that had belonged to Lucius' parents. It wasn't much, but she couldn't authorize more without Lucius, and they could always give more to their son later. And it was enough, because it was comparable to what Harry was putting in. Although it was slightly less than what Harry was offering and Malfoys are never outdone, so that did add to her feelings of embarrassment.

The lack of funds in Draco's marriage contact was the minor embarrassment Narcissa felt right now, with Draco's pregnancy being the major embarrassment. She wanted to rage and scream and punish Draco when she found out, but she couldn't, because of his condition, since he was still in danger of miscarrying. Severus had warned her against stressing the boy out and she felt horrible knowing what he was going through with almost losing a baby, so she turned on her loving, comforting motherly mode for her son.

Narcissa wished Lucius was here to help her with Draco. Sex talks were supposed to be Lucius' job. Her husband was to handle all matters of sex with her son and now that he wasn't around, she wasn't sure what to do. With a wedding coming up, there were certain activities that must be done to prepare. Despite the pregnancy, these things weren't done yet, so she thought she had to let Draco and Harry do them, but she didn't feel right about it. The thought of her son touching Harry before they were married made her stomach turn.

She asked Harry and Draco to put up silencing charms so that she wouldn't hear, but she couldn't shut her imagination off and she kept thinking of what the boys must be doing. She hadn't noticed anything yet, but they must be doing it sometime. She hadn't been thinking about that when she got caught up in the joys of wedding planning with Andy yesterday. She lost track of the time and didn't get back to the room of requirement until after Draco was already asleep for his afternoon nap and Harry had already come and gone again.

Narcissa might not have thought anything of the hour or so when Draco and Harry had been left alone without parental supervision, if not for what Draco had told her when he woke up, half naked, from his nap: Harry had given him a back massage like that. That little tidbit of information brought back images of the day she had agreed to let Harry give Draco a bath and the conversation they had had regarding sex. And then there was the incident Sunday with Draco having the accident in his bed; that wasn't Draco's fault and the baby was still fine, but he didn't need the erotic stimulation of what he was doing with Harry to add to his dreams. She had the horrible thought that if Draco lost the baby, it would be her fault for allowing her son to engage in certain activities.

"What's wrong Cissy?" Andromeda asked, coming back from the kitchen with a fresh pot of tea.

"I was just thinking of Draco and Harry," Narcissa answered.

"What about them is troubling you, dear?"

"It's something I wouldn't even be dealing with, if Lucius were here."

"And that is?"

"Well you know that Draco is a Peverell wizard, right?"

"Yes, of course. All of the Blacks are and I imagine the same is true of the Malfoys."

"Yes, it is. Well Harry needs to be prepared prior to the wedding night, but I don't feel right about Draco doing it, before he's married," Narcissa admitted, leaving out any details that related back to the pregnancy.

"I see. Ted and I didn't have that problem," Andromeda replied. She paused to think about it a moment. "How did you and Lucius solve that problem?"

"Lucius prepared me before we were married. He was a proper gentleman about it."

"Well then maybe Harry and Draco can do the same?"

"They've already started, but I'm sure they're not doing it the same way. I came home yesterday and Draco was asleep in nothing but his pants."

"Oh, I see. I have a similar problem with my Dora, but she's much older than your Draco, so there's not much I can do about it."

"Is Dora getting married then?"

"Oh yes, but it's very hush-hush. The groom hasn't even agreed yet, but Dora has her eyes set on that Remus Lupin and I'm certain it'll happen soon. I know Remus has feelings for her, but he's too caught up in his lycanthropy to know what to do about it."

"Oh my. What are you going to do about that?" Narcissa asked concerned. Surely her sister was not going to allow her only child to continue pursuing a werewolf!

"The only thing I can do: plan the wedding and have the arrangements ready to go for whenever they figure it out. With the way things are going, she'll be knocked up before he admits the need for a marriage. It's all very disgraceful."

"I can imagine," Narcissa said, not sure what else to say.

"But then Dora has never held to any of the pureblood customs and that's probably my fault for marrying Ted. She's twenty-six years old and still hasn't settled down."

"At that age, you're right to try to hurry the marriage along," Narcissa replied, trying to ignore the fact that the groom was a werewolf, since her sister didn't seem to mind.

"I know: Molly has seven children. She might know what to do about your Draco," Andromeda said, getting up to fire-call her friend.

"No, don't. Her son almost killed my son last week," Narcissa said, placing her hand on Andromeda's wrist, to stop her. She had told her sister the story that everyone else had been told about reopening the sectumsempra wounds.

"Yes, but that was Ronald, not Molly."

"The whole Weasley family is made up of a bunch of beasts that result to physical confrontations to solve their problems."

"Yes, but Molly married into them; she's perfectly agreeable company. I know you were enjoying your knitting circles with her prior to last week. Did you ever finish that scarf you were working on?" Andromeda didn't bother arguing with her sister's misconceptions of the Weasley family now, because she knew that it would be easier to get Narcissa to open up to the Weasleys in general after she'd mended the rift between Narcissa and Molly.

"No, but a home-made scarf seems awfully plebeian now."

"Look, I'm sure that Molly was properly horrified when she learned of Ronald's behavior and is planning on punishing him accordingly when he returns home. What did she say about it?"

"She didn't know. She sent me a letter yesterday asking where I've been and seemed to have no knowledge of the whole affair."

"How can that be?"

"He's of age, so the parents didn't have to be notified."

"Well did you tell her?"

"Yes, I wrote her a letter back yesterday informing her."

"Well then let's invite her over and see what she has to say about it!" Andromeda insisted.

It took some more cajoling by Andromeda, but eventually Narcissa agreed to have Molly Weasley over. Molly grabbed her knitting and some fresh baked biscuits and flooed fight over and that is how Narcissa found herself face to face with the mother of the wizard who had nearly caused her Draco to miscarry.

"Oh Cissa! I'm so glad you invited me over," Molly said. "I was so _horrified_, absolutely _disgusted_ when I read your letter yesterday about what Ronald had done. I am so mortified by his actions that I can't even tell you. Why I never. One of my children? Arthur and I went straight over after supper and gave that boy an earful. And I can tell you that that won't be the end of it. He may be of age now, but I can assure you that he won't be getting away with this. Arthur and I were up all night discussing it."

"It must be so awful to learn about what your son did Molly. And I hear he didn't even tell you about it?" Andromeda sympathized.

"If he thinks he can get away with not telling me, just because he's seventeen now, well then he's got another thing coming to him, I can assure you," Molly replied, before turning to Narcissa. "But enough about me. My problems are nothing compared to what you must be going through Cissa; twice in a month you almost lose your only son!"

"Yes, it's quite dreadful," Narcissa replied sedately. She wasn't sure how to handle the Weasley woman.

"Tell me, is he alright now? I know you're still not back at headquarters, so you must be staying with him, but surely after a week he should've recovered," Molly said.

"He's getting there. It was a dark curse Harry hit him with. There are complications," Narcissa replied.

"That's another one who's gonna get an earful from me come this summer. I know Harry would never mean to use a dark curse. He simply didn't know what that curse was, but he had no business using a curse when he didn't know what it did," Molly said.

"Harry seems to be a good kid," Narcissa admitted. She wanted to be mad at him when she first found out about what he did to Draco, but at the same time she found out, she also learned of the role he had played in her rescue. Obviously the young man wanted to set it right and felt awful about his mistake, so she had forgiven him.

"Molly, have you heard? Narcissa's received a marriage proposal from Harry for Draco!" Andromeda announced.

"Andy! That's top secret!" Narcissa hissed. If this was the level of secrecy her sister was capable of maintaining, she was glad she hadn't mentioned the baby.

"No! My Harry? Surely it couldn't be my Harry," Molly said. Harry was like a son to her and she had heard nothing of this.

"Cissy, Molly can keep the secret. Surely Harry will want the Weasleys at the wedding!" Andromeda insisted.

"Not now he doesn't; he's not on speaking terms with Ronald at the moment," Narcissa replied.

"I can't say that I am either; more of yelling terms actually. But Ronald doesn't speak for the family and I know Harry is friends with Fred, George, and Ginny and none of them have behaved so ghastly. Surely the rest of us will be invited," Molly said.

"The wedding is to be top secret, because we don't want the Dark Lord to find out about the relationship," Narcissa said.

It always unnerved Molly when Narcissa spoke of the Dark Lord, but she shrugged it off, saying, "Our family is already right in the middle of it. Arthur, Fred, George, and Bill are all in the Order. We can be trusted to keep the secret."

"Your intentions may be sound, but the Dark Lord is a powerful legilimens. Harry and Draco are concerned that if people are told then eventually someone who knows will be captured and tortured for information. Odds are that someone will crack. Draco's in no fit state to defend himself or go on the run," Narcissa replied.

"Surely Draco is going to go into hiding with Harry," Andromeda put in.

"Yes, he'll go into hiding soon, but the Dark Lord will just think he's with me, not Harry. Molly, you have to swear not to tell anyone, not even Arthur," Narcissa insisted.

"I can't tell Arthur? Surely I can just tell him, he's my husband," Molly said.

"Andy should've never put you in this position, Molly. See what happens when you tell Andy?" Narcissa asked her sister.

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking about that Cissy. But Molly doesn't go out and fight; she stays at home and won't be captured," Andromeda replied.

"I really can't tell my Arthur?" Molly asked.

"Absolutely not. If he gets captured, then Draco's as good as dead," Narcissa said.

"Well if it's like that, then you have my word not to tell, but I would like to be there for the wedding. Blimey, I didn't even suspect that Harry fancied Draco and he's already sent in the proposal? He really should've told me," Molly said.

"Cissy, how long have you known for?" Andromeda asked.

"Draco confided his interest in Harry to me shortly after I was rescued," Narcissa admitted.

"I'm sure Harry just hasn't had the chance to tell you Molly. That and he desires to keep the relationship secret to protect Draco," Andromeda said.

"I'm sure you're right," Molly replied. She was upset Harry hadn't told her, but she understood. And she was certain Ronald's recent behavior was not helping. "Well now that I know, I can help with arrangements. We're planning my son Bill's wedding for this summer. When will Harry and Draco's be, Cissa?" Molly asked.

"At the end of the school term," Narcissa answered.

"So soon?" Molly asked.

"Yes, it does seem a bit rushed Cissy," Andromeda added.

"Well Harry doesn't know what's going to happen with the war. He's going to go into hiding this summer and wants to get it done before then. I suspect it will be best if not even we know where he is," Narcissa replied, leaving out that the wedding needed to happen before the baby was born.

"Yes, and then there's your worry, Cissy, about their level of sexual activity, isn't there?" Andromeda asked, remembering their earlier topic of conversation. "You want them married before they take the relationship any further and you wind up with grandkids."

"Yes," Narcissa replied. She wasn't as comfortable talking about this with Molly, who she barely knew.

"Cissy is worried that Harry and Draco might be fooling around," Andromeda explained to Molly. "But with Peverell wizards, they need to be prepared for the wedding and I don't know what to tell her to do."

"Oh…Arthur and I never had that problem and only one of mine, Charlie, is a Peverell wizard. Charlie had a pureblood witch he was courting a while back and Arthur told him to tell her to do the preparations herself, so that he couldn't be accused of any hanky-panky. It was a good thing too, because they broke up when Charlie took that job in Romania. My brothers both had that problem and that solution worked well for them," Molly said.

"So I should advise the one being entered to touch himself?" Narcissa asked. She had never thought of this possibility and it seemed a bit wrong to her. She couldn't imagine doing it, if she had been told to prepare herself for her wedding night; there was an emotional bond forged between her and Lucius during that time in their lives and the preparing was a huge part of that.

"I'm not sure how easy that will be for a boy," Andromeda added.

"It seems a bit cold and distant and not the way to build a proper marriage to me," Narcissa said, laying out her issue with this solution.

"Well Cissy, if the boys are fooling around while they do it, they must already have that level of intimacy," Andromeda said.

"I think you're right Andy," Narcissa replied, thinking about the baby. If the boys had already conceived a child together, then they already had that bond forged and didn't need the preparatory period.

"Yes, well the wedding is coming up fast, so you don't need to worry about keeping them apart for long," Molly said.

Then the three women started discussing wedding plans again. Narcissa stayed there discussing wedding plans through lunchtime, but she had to get back, because Draco didn't have an afternoon class on Tuesdays; she didn't want to get back late and risk coming back to find Draco half naked again like she did yesterday, so she left early.

Narcissa was sitting on the sofa in the sitting room reading a wizard wedding magazine when Draco came back. "Hello dear. How was your day?" Narcissa asked.

"Lousy. Weasley tried to corner me today; said he wanted to apologize. Granger seemed to agree with him, that I should at least listen to it. I would've tried, but I was too nauseous to concentrate on what he was saying. Harry jumped in and said we weren't ready to listen to it and to give us some time. Then I had to hex Harry, because Greg and Vince showed up looking for me and thought I was being attacked. It turned into a pretty big fight that was broken up by McGonagall and Flitwick."

"What did the professors do? Are you in trouble Draco?"

"McGonagall and Flitwick gave everyone, including me and Harry, detention," Draco began. "But then Flitwick left and Professor Snape stepped in and Professor Snape said I was too ill to serve detention and that I needed to be resting to heal from that dark curse. Then Granger, the know-it-all, butted in and said that I wasn't really fighting anyway; I only shot off one mild jinx and then spent the rest of the fight cowering behind a shield charm. Weasley, pathetic dolt that he is, agreed with Granger. And after that McGonagall agreed that I didn't have to have detention. Harry, however, has detention tomorrow with Professor Snape and Weasley and Granger will be there too. McGonagall ended up with Vince and Greg for detention.

"Afterwards I went with Greg and Vince to the Slytherin table to eat lunch, because it was half over and I hadn't eaten yet and was starving. The stupid blood traitor couldn't even let me eat before he tried to apologize; I had to snack on saltines behind my shield charm while they were fighting to stop my dry heaves. Vince and Greg told the entire table what happened and then Greg mentioned that I got out of it, because I was cowering behind a shield charm. Then Vince wanted to know why I'd cowered behind a shield charm, instead of helping him and Greg; at least he didn't notice the crackers. Well of course I put up a shield charm to protect the baby when there were curses being shot back and forth! What if one of them missed and hit the baby? And I was hungry and it's hard to eat crackers and fling hexes back and forth.

"But I couldn't tell Vince that, could I? And then Pansy and Blaise started making fun of me. Finally I had to bring up the sectumsempra thing and say my dark curse wounds were hurting, so I couldn't fight. That made me sound really weak and pathetic and gave them loads of inspiration for making fun of me," Draco finished.

"Well at least you aren't in trouble."

"Yeah, but Harry is. Now I'll have less time to spend with him," Draco complained. Not to mention he was the laughing stalk of the Slytherin table and that would probably last at least a week, if not more.

"You've been spending quite enough time with him as it is, given you aren't married yet."

"Mother, I thought we already discussed this."

"We did, but I've been thinking about it and I'm not comfortable with where we left it."

"Mother!"

"Draco, this childish behavior needs to stop. If you're old enough to sleep around and get knocked up, then you're old enough to act like an adult. You need to take responsibility for your actions."

"I am taking responsibility," Draco complained. "I said I'd marry Harry, didn't I?"

"Draco, you are far too immature to be having a child. I am deeply concerned for my grandson. I know Professor Snape said not to put undue stress on you, Draco, but you and the baby are recovering, so it's time you knew how I feel about this situation."

"And how do you feel mother? Do you hate Harry?"

"No, I don't. Harry seems to love you very much and has demonstrated much more maturity than I can say for my own son.

Narcissa's words wounded Draco. He sat there, looking off into space, trying to stay calm and not let her words get to him.

"I've heard him say to you many times now that he loves you, but I haven't heard you say it back," Narcissa said, listing just one of the many areas on which Harry seemed to have one up on her son. "Do you love him Draco?"

Draco wanted to answer in the affirmative, but he wasn't quite there yet, so he settled for continuing to sit there staring off into space.

"Okay," Narcissa said, accepting that she wasn't getting an answer on that one. "Then why did you fool around with him, when you didn't love him?"

Draco wanted to say that he didn't and that it was Harry's fault, not his, but he couldn't. Instead he just shook his head and sat there.

"And you didn't use a contraceptive Draco! From what you, Severus, and Harry have told me, he didn't know Peverell wizards existed until after you were pregnant. He didn't know that he was making a baby, but you did know that it was a possibility. Even if you didn't know _he_ was a Peverell wizard, you knew _you_ were, and you should have acted accordingly and taken the appropriate precautions," Narcissa said, finally getting this off of her chest. She had been waiting an entire week to tell her son how she truly felt about the situation.

Draco couldn't take it anymore. He slowly got up from the couch and walked into the beach bedroom, because it was closest, closing the door behind him. He cast a silencing charm on the door, lay face down on the bed, burying his face into a pillow and let out his frustrations.

Narcissa let Draco calm down for half an hour, before she went into the room. It was the first time she had ever gone into Harry's bedroom. It was neat, tidy, and bare.

"Draco, are you ready to finish talking to me now?" Narcissa asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed. She felt bad about upsetting her son, but her son had earned the reprimand and she wasn't about to take it back; she just wanted to finish their conversation so that she wouldn't have to think about this ever again.

Draco wiped his face, turned over, and sat up with his back against the headboard and his knees to his chest. He wrapped his arms around his knees and nodded.

"Draco, I know I told you and Harry that it was okay if you prepared him, but I'm not comfortable with this continuing. Such activities are probably the underlying cause behind your wet dream the other night."

"We haven't been doing it. He's been doing it himself, after I go to bed. That's got nothing to do with it," Draco said.

"Well good, then he can keep doing it himself and I don't want to come home and find you in your pants after being with him again."

"Mother! He was rubbing my back, that's all! My back hurts all the freaking time now!"

"Draco, don't you raise your voice to me."

"Sorry mother."

"Harry may massage your back, but he should do so with you wearing pajama bottoms at least."

"Yes mother. Is that all?" Draco asked, wanting his mother to leave him alone already; agreeing with her was the easiest way to accomplish that goal.

"And the fooling around should not occur again until after the wedding."

"Yes mother.

"You do understand that I'm trying to do what's best for you, don't you?"

"Yes mother."

"Draco, I mean it. I'm not going to be able to stay here for the rest of the term. I'll be going off to the villa in France and you'll be left here alone with Harry. I need to know that this fooling around isn't going to continue while I'm gone."

"You can ask Harry if you don't believe me, but I already told him that I wouldn't have sex with him again until we're married. It only happened the once and won't happen again." By now Draco was getting exasperated with his mother.

"Okay, good. I believe you. Now you should probably have some pumpkin juice before you get sick again. I'll go get some from the icebox," Narcissa said, getting up from the bed and going back into the sitting room to get a glass of Draco's juice from the icebox.

Narcissa handed Draco the glass of juice and watched while he drank it. Once he was done, she said, "I'll just be in my room working on the wedding plans, if you need me."

Draco nodded, relieved that his mother was finally leaving him alone. He watched her leave and spelled the door closed behind her. He changed into pajama bottoms and removed his school robes, remembering what his mother said. Then he climbed back into the bed to cry his frustrations with his mother into the pillow.

Harry came back from herbology class and found the door to the beach bedroom spelled shut, so he entered the bedroom through the bathroom door. Draco was lying on the bed and he could see dried tear tracks on Draco's red face.

"Draco, what's wrong?" Harry asked, climbing into the bed with Draco and taking Draco in his arms.

Draco didn't answer at first; he just held onto Harry and took comfort in Harry's arms.

"Is there something wrong with the baby?" Harry asked. Draco shook his head. "Are you hurt?" Another head shake. "Are you upset about the detention? I'll only be away one night and you got out of it." Yet another shake of the head. "Then tell me Draco, please?"

Draco let out a sigh and said, "Mother said I'm immature and irresponsible and I shouldn't have gotten pregnant before marriage. I knew she would blame me."

"You still didn't tell her that it's my fault?"

"No and you better not either."

"Why hasn't Professor Snape told her?"

"Student teacher confidentially. I'm almost of age; after the sixteenth birthday, he can't tell unless I do something wrong."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. He could still tell your guardians, because you did something wrong and are under seventeen. He probably already did."

"Yeah, well my aunt and uncle don't care. They'd probably tear up the letter without reading it, just because it was delivered by an owl."

"Huh?"

"My uncle hates owls."

"Oh."

"Listen, I'm gonna talk to your mum," Harry started to say, but Draco protested. "No, listen, I'm not going to tell her the whole story. It'll be nothing more than what you already told her, but she needs to know that I accept my blame for what I did. It's my fault, not yours."

"She's just gonna say that you taking the blame for it, makes you sound more responsible than me."

"Draco, if anything, you are _loads_ more responsible than me. You're doing what you think is best for this baby and I know you're gonna be a brilliant father. And you've made sure I don't blab to anyone who doesn't know occlumency, so that we keep this baby safe. You've done nothing but try to protect this baby since we've found out," Harry said. He wanted to ask Draco to marry him again, but the situation was too similar to the last time, so he didn't.

"Yeah," Draco agreed.

"So can I tell your mother that I took advantage of you?"

"No, that's really not gonna help. Just back up what I already told her, about how I told you that we're not having sex again until we're married. And she doesn't want us wanking or naked together again. She's mad about me wearing just my pants when you rub my back; that's why I put pajamas on today."

"Do you need me to rub your back now?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, turn over," Harry relied. Draco complied and Harry set about removing all of the knots and tension from his boyfriend's back. The baby was still tiny, but it seemed to Harry that it was putting a lot of strain on Draco's back already.

Harry massaged Draco's back for half an hour and then Draco had a snack from the icebox, not from the room, before taking a nap. While Draco was asleep, Harry went to talk to Narcissa. He knocked on her door and waited for her to invite him in.

"Mam, Draco told me about what you said to him. And I just want you to know that I think he's being very mature and responsible about this situation. He doesn't want me to tell you this, but the pregnancy is really my fault. I took advantage of him when he wasn't thinking straight. Afterwards he told me that it couldn't happen again until we're married and I agreed. I feel really awful about the whole thing and I don't want you blaming Draco for something that's my fault," Harry said. Draco told him not to say this, but he felt he had to say it.

"Thank you for telling me that Harry. Even if the sex was your fault, my son is still acting immature now, with his whining in general and his teasing you when your friend was over," Narcissa replied.

"He's been put through a lot this past week and I'd rather not upset him."

"I've seen you bending over backwards not to upset him."

"Yes, I have. This is entirely my fault. The baby was my fault. I almost killed him last month with a curse I didn't know and that was my fault. And Ron was mad at him, because I was lying to Ron about our relationship, so even that is my fault. As long as Draco is my boyfriend, pregnant with my baby, and in danger of losing our baby, I'm gonna continue bending over backwards to made him happy and reduce his stress level."

"I'm glad to hear it, Harry," Narcissa replied. "Now would you like to tell me your preferences on wedding themes and colors?"

"Um, whatever Draco wants is what I would prefer. I just want to make him happy," Harry admitted, but Narcissa roped him into looking at a wedding magazine with her anyway.

Harry never realized that there was such a thing as a manly wedding, but Narcissa's magazine had several rather nice examples without all the frill, lace, and doilies that were normally associated with weddings on the television. Harry indicated that he liked the simple elegance of a few of the styles and then excused himself to do homework.

* * *

Author's Note: Does anyone have any ideas on how Molly could discipline Ron? He's of age and going off to war with Harry, so there's not really much his parents can do to him. Maybe give him extra chores or take away his pitiful allowance, but that's all I can think of.

Next chapter Ron and Harry will finally talk. Some of you have mentioned that Harry seems to have a bug up is arse regarding Ron, so you'll be pleased to know that Ron will get his say next chapter.


	42. Chapter 42

Author's Note: No censorship was needed in this chapter.

I would like to thank Nins, Lee, SeverinPrince, and AR for giving me punishment ideas for Ron! Thank you!

* * *

Harry was highly annoyed to find himself in detention with Snape, again, Wednesday evening. He had Quidditch practice before dinner, which he couldn't cancel because the big match was Saturday. Between Quidditch practice, detention, and classes, Harry's time with Draco that day was very limited.

Detention was more annoying than usual, because Ron and Hermione were in detention with him. Ron had been trying to convince Harry to forgive Ron for about a week now and yesterday Hermione made it clear that she had switched to Ron's side. She still thought what Ron did was horrible, but she seemed to be of the opinion that Harry had to forgive Ron eventually. And after Ron's attempted apology to Draco yesterday, Hermione thought it was time.

Harry was extremely annoyed with the way Ron had cornered Draco, alone, on Draco's way to lunch. Draco had gotten separated from his Slytherin cronies because he had ducked into the bathroom to hurl and sent his friends along to lunch without him. It was only luck that Harry and Hermione saw Ron enter the bathroom after Draco and followed; Harry dreaded to think how it would've played out if Ron had gotten Draco completely alone again.

Sure Ron had gotten out a precursory apology, but Draco was feeling too nauseous to listen to it at the time and when Harry finally got Ron off of Draco and began escorting Draco to the Great Hall for something to eat, Crabbe and Goyle showed up. Harry was caught completely off guard by Draco's jinx and although it was harmless and he was able to perform the counter, it started the fight between Ron and Hermione on one side and Goyle and Crabbe on the other. And Draco had had to cower behind a shield charm and eat crackers to keep himself from being sick again.

As far as Harry was concerned, the entire incident was Ron's fault and showed his poor tact, thus he was not inclined to forgive Ron or listen to what Ron had to say. There was an awkward five minute period at the beginning of detention when Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all waiting outside the defense classroom for Professor Snape; Ron had thought that it was a perfect time to talk with Harry. "Harry, I know I'm still an arse, but I apologized to you and to Malfoy. When are you gonna come back to the dorm? And you don't have to stay away from the common room on account of me," Ron said.

"Look Ron, I don't want to talk to you. I'm here to serve my detention, which is entirely _your_ fault, and nothing more. You've hit it dead on: you're an arse," Harry replied.

"Harry, Ronald has a point. You can't stay in the room of requirement forever. Don't you think you should come back before McGonagall finds out and you get detention?" Hermione asked.

"Professor Snape already knows. Until he says I have to go back, I'm staying where I am," Harry replied.

"Snape knows? Since when are you in Snape's pocket?" Ron asked.

"Since Tuesday last, when I helped him save a life," Harry replied as Snape appeared in the corridor, his black robes billowing behind him.

"At least I didn't use a dark curse," Ron muttered under his breath.

Harry heard it, but because Snape was finally here, he didn't want to say anything back. They all filed into the classroom. Harry brought homework to do during detention, but Snape didn't give him any time to do it. Instead Snape had two of the three of them practicing defense shields and dueling, while the third Snape took aside to work with on occlumency.

Ron was first with occlumency and Harry heard Snape praise Ron's occlumency skill and progress, while Harry dueled with Hermione. Harry didn't really want to hear about how much better at occlumency Ron was than him, so he concentrated on dueling with Hermione. Hermione hadn't had the month of detentions with Snape that he had, so her shields needed a bit of work. Harry fell right back into his Dumbledore's Army mode in helping Hermione perfect her shields.

Then Harry had his occlumency lesson with Snape. Harry started off dreading it, but Snape only stayed in his head for a minute; just long enough to judge the progress Harry had made in shielding his mind. "Not nearly as good as the others, but you're making progress," Snape said, before going into a lecture on occlumency technique, followed by a series of tips, and ending in instructions for practicing on his own.

So occlumency with Snape turned out to not be as bad as Harry thought it would, but then it was Hermione's turn for her occlumency lesson and Harry was left to duel with Ron. Harry was still mad at Ron, so he didn't bother trying to help Ron perfect Ron's shield technique. Instead he shot curse after curse at Ron, as fast he could. He tried to keep everything none-lethal, but within five minutes he had Ron tied up and restrained. He was going to leave Ron like that and do his homework, but Snape stopped his lesson with Hermione to say, "Nicely done Mr. Potter, but perhaps, it would be prudent to release Mr. Weasley and duel again."

'Perhaps it'd be prudent to hogtie Mr. Weasley and leave him out under a bridge for Trolls to have at him as they please,' Harry replied in his head, but released Ron, because Snape was eyeing him in a way that made him think that Snape's suggestion was an order.

"Thanks mate," Ron said as Harry handed Ron back his wand. "Maybe you could go a bit slower this time?"

That request irritated Harry, so Harry began unleashing curses at Ron again. Ron ducked the first one and threw up a shield to block the second, before getting in a jelly legs jinx of his own. Ron only got it in, because Harry had decided to say, "You're an arse Ron," and the dialog had prevented Harry from casting a shield.

"I know and my mum agrees," Ron replied while Harry did sort of a tap-dancing like step and tried to catch his balance. But before Harry could perform the counter, Ron hit Harry with incarcerous and ropes shot out of Ron's wand, binding Harry tightly. "Now you're gonna listen to me and then when I'm done talking, I'll let you go and you can curse me again." Ron bent down and picked up Harry's wand from where it had fallen, keeping a tight hold on it, because he knew that Harry could sometimes summon his wand with wandless magic.

"What do you want to say that you haven't said already?" Harry asked with a bit of spite, because he was upset over being caught off guard.

"I know what I did was wrong. I shouldn't've fallen for his baiting and calling my father a useless loser who can't provide for our family. I mean it's nothing new for him to insult my family and never mind all of the awful things he's said and done to us in the past… well I still get mad every time I think about him calling Hermione a mudblood and cursing Katie, more so than that he poisoned me…"

Harry had forgotten that Draco had insulted Ron right before Ron punched Draco and that Draco was anything but blameless. "Ron, you're rambling. Draco doesn't actually think that; he just said it, because that's what's expected of him. And he wasn't the one who poisoned you or gave Katie the cursed necklace; it was someone else."

Ron didn't see how it was possible that Draco didn't believe the pureblood tripe Draco spouted. Ron was also positive Draco was the one who cursed Katie and poisoned him, but this wasn't where he wanted to go with this conversation, so he dropped it. "Never mind; I didn't want to talk about him and all the things he's done. I wanted to tell you that my mum and dad came and took me out of detention Monday night to tell me I was in big trouble for what I'd done to Malfoy," Ron began. "She seemed to think the sectumsempra story was what really happened. Hermione told me yesterday that my mum got it from Malfoy's mum and that they're friends now. Then this morning I get another letter from my mum telling me what my punishment's gonna be when I get home for nearly killing Malfoy: rooming with the ghoul and extra chores. It sucks, but it's not a big deal. The strange part though is that she mentioned your wedding Harry. She seems to think that you're marrying Malfoy and my actions are gonna mean that I won't be there for it. She must have gotten this from Malfoy's mum, because, where else would she be getting it from? So Harry, I'd like you to explain to me why Malfoy's mum thinks you're marrying Malfoy and what that has to do with Malfoy being pregnant, because it seems to me, mate, that you've kept me out of a big part of your life."

Harry wanted to deny it. He fought to throw off the bonds of the incarcerous and break free. If he could just get free he could hex Ron so badly that Ron wouldn't be able to accuse him of anything and he could ignore that Ron knew. Maybe he could even get in one to Ron's head and make Ron forget what Ron knew. "Accio wand," Harry said, trying to summon his wand with wandless magic, but his trusty phoenix feather wand was firmly within Ron's grip and although the wand jerked at the summoning charm, it didn't leave Ron's hand.

Ron started tapping Harry's wand against the palm of his other hand as he contemplated Harry. "Look, I know I said I didn't want to know all of the details, but I thought we were talking about the plan to defeat V- Voldemort. I never meant I wanted to be blocked out of your personal life. And besides, I'm a natural at occlumency. Snape says I'm learning faster than Hermione even. Now there's no need to keep me out."

"You've only been learning for a week," Harry replied.

"Yeah, but I'm already better than you and by the end of my month, I'll be better than Hermione. I'm pretty sure you've told her what's going on. When I ask her, she says it's not her place to tell and that I have to ask you. Well I'm asking you, Harry, what is going on between you and Malfoy? Are you marrying him? Is he pregnant with your kid? Is that why you've been so upset with me? Because it's all starting to make sense, mate."

Ron seemed to have it all figured out and no matter how much Harry wanted to deny it, he couldn't think of a logical alternative explanation. Harry was blocked into a corner. Ron wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but Ron knew strategy, and Ron didn't seem to be backing down. Harry was considering admitting the truth, but what would Draco say? Draco would surely be mad at him for telling another person and even angrier because it was Ron, the person who was responsible for Draco's pre-term labor, the reminder of which was still on Draco's stomach.

"Look, I had no idea Malfoy was pregnant. Harry, you know that," Ron continued after Harry didn't respond. "Yes I hit him, but you were having me on. You were making it look like Malfoy was being a prat again and I didn't know that it was all an act. And yeah, I acted like a prat when you told me what happened, but I didn't believe you then. I honestly thought that there was no way Malfoy could be pregnant and you were just having me on. I wasn't even thinking about what I was saying. Yeah, so I'm awful, I get that, but you're not blameless in this either. I'm not the only one who attacked Malfoy. Just last month it was you landing Malfoy in the hospital wing. How did the situation turn so fast? One day you're killing Malfoy and the next you're shagging him? Now you're having a baby with him and getting married? Have you been having me on all year?"

"No, it just started with that sectumsempra in the bathroom. Draco's not even two months pregnant yet," Harry said. He wasn't admitting the truth, but skipping that stage and answering Ron's question.

"So you almost kill him and then what? You fall in love?" Ron paused and Harry looked down at his bound feet; it was the closest thing to an admission he was going to give. "Okay, I know you mentioned that you like blokes. That's not a big deal. But Malfoy? The slimy git's a Death Eater. Or his dad's a Death Eater, at least. The whole bloody family is full of Death Eaters and Voldemort supporters! He's probably gonna turn you over to Voldemort on your wedding night!"

"No, he won't. You don't know him," Harry said.

"Then tell me. I only know the slimy git who's been tormenting us for the past six years, but if that isn't the real him, then I want to get to know him. I tried to apologize; my mum said she'd skin my hide if I didn't. What else do you expect me to do?" Ron sounded exasperated.

"Give us time. Draco's just barely out of the wheelchair. He's not fully recovered yet and that was a pretty shitty thing you did yesterday, cornering him when he was alone in the bathroom! He went in there to hurl and then he was trying to make it to the Great Hall to get something to eat to settle his stomach and you cornered him."

"I didn't know. And if you'd just set something up between us so I can apologize properly, then none of it would've happened."

"Maybe I would, if you'd just give us more time," Harry replied. He didn't mean to agree, but it just sort of happened.

"Good, then that's settled. Should I let you go now?"

"Yeah, that'd be good."

"Fine. Good. Alright. But before you kill me, just remember that I'm sorry for what I did. I won't touch Malfoy again and I hope the baby is alright," Ron said, making sure his apology got across, before he let Harry up. Not only was their friendship on the line, but his mum was gonna skin him alive if he didn't apologize and she didn't even know about the baby. "Got it?"

"Yeah, but you're not forgiven yet. I don't know if Draco and I will ever forgive you."

"Well that's good enough for now," Ron said, before lifting the incarcerous.

Harry didn't attack at first. He had lost blood flow to his toes and his arms were cramped from being bound in those ropes for so long, so he sat up and stretched for a bit. But after five minutes he felt fully recovered and asked, "Fancy another go?"

"Yeah, bring it on, mate," Ron said, casting a shield charm, even though Harry hadn't thrown any curses yet.

Harry and Ron had a much more amicable duel that lasted quite a bit longer. Harry got in a few good ones and had to let Ron up and Ron got in a few that Harry had to be released from. And then Snape was done with Hermione's occlumency lesson and he had all three of them practicing their nonverbal spells. Snape let Harry and Hermione go when two hours were up, but he made Ron stay to continue his occlumency practice.

"So you and Ron seem to have worked out a truce," Hermione said as they climbed the stairs.

"Yeah, a bit. I'm still mad at him though."

"Well it's a start at least."

"Yeah, it's a start," Harry conceded. "Do you think he knows to keep quiet about my relationship?"

"Yeah, I already told him a million times not to tell about the baby. When he was asking me all those questions about you, I refused to answer and warned him not to tell anyone."

"Good. At least there's that."

"You know he wouldn't betray you. No matter how much you two fight, Ron's still a good guy."

Harry shrugged. "I don't fancy telling Draco about this, but I suppose I have to."

"Well good luck with that. I'm sure it will be fine. Maybe he'll be mad at first, but Ron finding out was inevitable, really," Hermione replied as they approached the landing for Gryffindor tower.

"Yeah, see ya," Harry said as he parted ways with Hermione and continued up to the room of requirement.

Harry was relieved to find Draco already asleep, which meant he wouldn't have to tell Draco about Ron until tomorrow. But while Harry was lying on the floor by Draco's bed that night trying to go to sleep, he kept dreading the conversation he knew he would have to have with Draco the next day; Harry had to tell Draco before Draco found out on his own.

* * *

Author's Note: It took Ron a bit longer to figure it out than Hermione, but he's not just Harry's stupid friend. Ron and Harry's friendship isn't quite back to normal, but there's the first step. I'm wondering though, do you think Ron's the type of person to try to break Harry and Draco up? Obviously he doesn't like Draco, but might he bury the hatchet with Draco for Harry's sake? I think Ron should fall somewhere in the middle, but am having trouble deciding and I'd love your suggestions.


	43. Chapter 43

Author's Note: No censorship was needed in this chapter.

I would like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter: the consensus seems to be that Ron should tell Harry to leave Draco, but not do anything to break them up. Thank you!

* * *

It wasn't until Harry saw Ron in defense Thursday that Harry remembered his detention with Ron the previous night and that Ron now knew the truth. Harry had completely forgotten to tell Draco. Harry thought about taking Draco aside during lunch and telling Draco, but it was too risky. Besides, Harry didn't want to have to tell Draco. Harry knew he had to, but he was more than willing to put it off for a few hours.

Harry should've told Draco when he got back to the room of requirement after herbology, but he still didn't want to, so he decided to put it off again. Instead they did homework together and he gave Draco a back rub. And then Draco got tired and took a nap after Draco had his snack. Harry went and found Hermione in the Gryffindor common room, not because he needed the help, but because he missed his friends.

When Harry was sitting next to Hermione and doing some homework, Seamus and Dean came up to him and Dean asked, "When are you coming back Harry?"

"What makes you think I want to come back? I've got it pretty good over in the room of requirement," Harry replied, brushing Dean off.

Neville came over next and said, "We really do miss you Harry. Our dorm isn't the same without you."

"Thanks Neville. I miss you too. I'll come back soon, but I'm not ready yet."

"Yeah, alright. Seeya Harry," Neville replied, before walking away like the others.

Ginny waited until Neville and the boys were out of earshot, before approaching. "Harry, do you think you'll be able to let us into to the room of requirement on Sunday? Luna and I can't wait to get in there and try it out," Ginny said, leaving out the specifics, in case anyone was within hearing range.

"I don't think so Ginny," Harry replied, thinking about Narcissa. Even if Draco left, where would Narcissa go?

"Come on, please? Luna and I'll stay out of your way and we won't bother you."

"Sorry, I can't."

"You can't hog the entire room to yourself."

"Look, I can't let you in and I can't tell you why. It's top secret."

"More top secret stuff Harry? Or is it that you just don't want to share. You let Hermione in."

"Hermione knows the secret and she knows legilimency, so it'll stay a secret. I'll let you and Luna in as soon as the room is available."

"Great! Thank you so much Harry," Ginny said, giving Harry a hug, before bouncing off.

Harry and Hermione went back to studying after that and then Harry went back to the room of requirement for dinner. Harry knew he had to tell Draco soon, especially because they were supposed to be practicing occlumency after dinner and Draco would find out then. It was best to tell Draco before they started, but Harry didn't want to ruin dinner with a fight. All through dinner Harry kept thinking about what to say, but he waited until Draco was on dessert to bring it up.

"I had a conversation with Ron yesterday while we were in detention," Harry began.

"What were you doing talking during detention?" Draco asked, before taking another bite of apple pie.

"We were supposed to be dueling and Ron got an incarcerous on me, so I had no choice but to listen," Harry replied.

"And what did he have to say Harry?" Narcissa asked.

"He got a letter from his mum. She seemed to think that Draco and I were getting married," Harry answered. He decided that it would be best to start off like this, so that Draco would realize that it wasn't Harry's fault that Ron knew the truth.

"How did Ron's mum know that?" Draco asked, throwing his fork down on his empty plate.

"That's my fault boys. I told my sister Andy about the marriage contract; she let it slip to Molly that we were planning the wedding," Narcissa said.

"Mother! How could you?" Draco asked shocked. How could his own mother betray him like this? He was starting to think his flaw in his plan to keep his pregnancy secret was when he told Harry and Professor Snape. Every new person who was told seemed to tell at least one more new person.

"I told Molly not to tell anyone, not even her husband. Obviously she is not trust worthy," Narcissa replied.

"And Aunt Andy too! If she told the Weasley woman, who knows who else she'll tell," Draco replied.

"I will have a talk with both of them and make sure they don't tell anyone else. Maybe Molly didn't realize that Ronald didn't know," Narcissa replied, getting up from the table to make a few firecalls.

"Your mum didn't mean to let it get out, I'm sure," Harry told Draco.

"Yeah, well, what did Ron say about it?" Draco asked.

"He put it together with your pregnancy and figured everything out," Harry admitted.

"He knows? All of it? Shite."

"Yes, shite, exactly."

"We'll have to ask Professor Snape to obliviate him."

"I don't think he'll do that."

"Why ever not?"

"Well, for one thing he already knows that Ron knows and he didn't do anything about it."

"I haven't asked him yet."

"And for another, he's teaching Ron occlumency and he's apparently a natural. He's probably not a danger to us."

"Maybe not to you, but to me and the baby he is."

"He says he's really sorry."

"Yeah right."

"Look, I don't want him to know either, but he already knows. We'll just have to deal with it. Hermione said that Ron knows not to tell and Snape says that Ron's great at occlumency. It's not ideal, but at least there's that."

"You're considering forgiving him!" Draco accused.

"No…"

"But?"

"But, I think I need him to help me defeat Voldemort. I need at least Hermione and I know you won't be able to go with me."

"Yeah, I'll be at home with the baby while you're out saving the world, but I don't see how Ron's gonna help you, unless you're gonna use him as a shield."

"Do you want to know about our plan for defeating Voldemort?" Harry asked. He didn't want to tell Draco until they were in hiding together, in case Draco revealed the secret to Draco's friends, but he was fairly certain he could trust Draco.

"No, not really. Besides, I can't tell you the details regarding what the Dark Lord asked me to do."

"Alright. Well then I'll keep working on defeating Voldemort and Hermione will help me with it. And maybe, if Ron can keep from being an arse for two minutes, I might let him help, but we can deal with that when it comes to it. Let's go inside and I'll give you another backrub," Harry offered.

Draco agreed and the boys went into the dragon room. After the massage, they practiced their occlumency and legilimency, before doing some homework and going to bed.

Friday passed by quickly. Harry spent the afternoon with Draco studying and after dinner he and Ginny got the team, minus Ron, together for one last practice to go over their strategy for the final Quidditch match. After Quidditch practice, Harry went back to the room of requirement and found Draco reading in the sitting room. Harry went to the beach bedroom to change into his pajamas and then came back out to sit next to Draco.

"How was practice?" Draco asked.

"Good," Harry replied, before leaning in to kiss Draco. He really missed snogging Draco senseless and he longed to prolong the kiss, but he knew where that would lead, so he broke it short.

"I don't think I'm gonna go to your match tomorrow. I haven't gone to any all year and I don't want to pretend to cheer for the other team, like I normally would."

Harry was kind of disappointed that Draco wouldn't be there to see him play, but Quidditch matches could get pretty heated and he was glad Draco and the baby wouldn't be in the middle of all that chaos. "It's okay."

"Really?"

"Really. You wouldn't be able to come back to Gryffindor tower to celebrate with me anyway."

"Or bemoan your terrible defeat," Draco said with a laugh, but before Harry could snap back a retort, Draco was leaning in and joining their lips together again. It wasn't often that he initiated a kiss and even rarer that he showed any dominance in one, but this time Draco nipped Harry's lower lip until Harry's mouth opened and then he pushed his tongue into Harry's mouth.

Harry waited until Draco's tongue was done exploring his mouth, before pulling back and asking, "What was that for?"

"I'm horny and mother is in her room," Draco answered. He had no plans on having sex with his mother in the other room, but he and Harry could certainly snog a bit.

"Draco, we can't." It wasn't that Harry didn't want to, because he _really_ wanted to, but he knew they needed to wait until Draco's body was fully recovered.

"I know." Draco bit his own lip in nervous thought, before leaning in and whispering into Harry's ear, "Did you think about me when you stretched your arse last night?"

"Draco," Harry moaned. This talk was making him painfully hard and there was nothing he could do about it until Draco went to sleep.

Draco leaned in and nipped Harry's lower lip again. Harry felt the warm moister of Draco's tongue on his lower lip, but he didn't want to encourage this, so he pulled even further back. Now he was lying sideways against the armrest of the couch and Draco was hovering over him. "We need to stop," Harry insisted.

"The baby's fine. I think Professor Snape and mother are just having us on," Draco said, resting an arm on either side of Harry. "How is letting you wank me now, when I need it, any different from when I dream of you wanking me?"

"He said it's less stressful for the baby."

"I'll tell you what's stressful for the baby: me being horny _all the time_. All of the wizard pregnancy books I've read recommend lots and lots of sex for a healthy pregnancy," Draco said and then licked his lower lip, thinking about the feel of Harry's tongue on his mouth. Of course wizard pregnancy books would recommend sex; they were written by wizards.

"Yeah, but only if it's safe. Your body'll heal soon and then I can wank you every day. Besides, think how this'll look if your mum walks in?"

"Shite," Draco said, moving back to his side of the couch and sitting down; thoughts of his mother were like having a bucket of ice water dropped on his head. "Harry, I promised mother on Tuesday that we wouldn't fool around again until after the wedding."

"What? Why? I thought your mum gave us permission last week," Harry replied. He remembered Draco telling him his mum didn't want them wanking anymore, but he assumed that she meant until Draco was fully healed.

"She took it back. She said she wasn't comfortable with it and blamed my wet dream on it, which didn't even make sense, because you've been prepping yourself lately. I told her that and she said good, you can keep doing it yourself."

"Well what are we gonna do?" Harry asked, wanting to leave this up to Draco. Of course he wanted more sexual activity, but Draco was the one whose mum was against it and Draco was the one who was pregnant.

"Go along with it, for now, I guess," Draco replied shrugging. Somehow that statement made him want to cry. His dick was still half hard in his pants and not only was he forbidden to touch it now, he was also forbidden to let Harry touch it until they got married.

"It's a good thing we'll be married soon," Harry replied.

"Yeah. I'm hungry," Draco said. "And I think I need a cold shower."

"Okay, I could use one too."

"You better bring your invisibility cloak, so mother won't catch you."

"I meant separately. You go shower in the new bathroom and I'll use the old one."

"Fine, but tomorrow I'm gonna ask Professor Snape about this celibacy doxy dung," Draco said with a huff before getting up and taking a cold shower.

While Draco was in the shower, Harry went into the bathroom with his potions. Fingering himself was normally a very quick and pleasant experience. With the conditioning potion, the pleasure derived from anal stimulation was increased and Harry didn't even have to touch his prostate or his cock; he could cum from rubbing his cervix alone, which was a good thing, because he hadn't bothered to learn the finger extension charm, so he couldn't reach his prostate. He was up to four fingers now, including the knuckles. This time when he fingered himself, he had a fresh memory to work with: Draco cornering him on the couch.

Draco usually wasn't that forward about sexual activity. To Harry, it normally felt like he was coercing Draco; they did whatever Harry started and no more. This was different. Today Draco had been the one to start it. Draco wanted it. Draco was leaning over Harry so possessively, as if Draco _owned_ Harry. Harry liked that idea a lot. Harry wanted to be Draco's and for Draco to own him. Harry kept picturing the predatory look on Draco's face as he fingered himself. Harry came remembering how Draco had licked Harry's lip and with a certainty that Draco wanted him.

* * *

Author's Notes: It's Quidditch this weekend and I think Hermione might stop by for a visit.

Please Review!


	44. Chapter 44

Author's Note: No censorship was needed in this chapter.

I would like to thank Nins and Lee for reviewing the last chapter. Draco didn't blow up at Harry over Ron, because it was Narcissa's fault. He might've blown up at his mother, but she had just lectured him about being immature. As for the Draco and Ron relationship, I think Draco will warm up to Ron as soon as he sees how useful Ron is in a jam; Ron just needs an opportunity to demonstrate his loyalty to Harry. Thank you!

* * *

Harry woke up early Saturday morning, dressed for Quidditch, and went down to breakfast in the Great Hall, so that he wouldn't disturb Draco.

Draco slept in. Now that he didn't have to pee ever again, it was his growling stomach that woke him. He sat up and noticed that Harry was already gone, but then it was almost ten, so Harry should be at the big match. He wondered how it was going as he ate his cereal and bowl of fruit.

"Oh good, you're finally up. I'll fire call Severus," Narcissa said, stepping out of the hut to find Draco eating breakfast on the dining patio.

"Is he coming to examine me again?" Draco asked, remembering his question he wanted to ask. Professor Snape hadn't been by to check on the baby in days.

"Yes, he said he wanted to check on you before he leaves for the weekend. He's to be away again," Narcissa answered.

Draco nodded and turned back to his food and Narcissa went back into the hut to firecall Professor Snape from the fireplace in her room. Fifteen minutes later, Professor Snape arrived and took Draco to the bed in the dragon room to examine Draco. The examination ended with the usual sex determination spell, which still showed a blurry blue three letter word.

"I am finished. You can sit up now, Mr. Malfoy. How have you been feeling?" Professor Snape asked when he finished preforming his usual spells. The tests showed everything to be normal, but he always asked, because often the first sign of trouble was an achy feeling in the patient.

"Horny. My ballocks hurt. When can I start wanking again? If I have to wait much longer, my ballocks are gonna explode," Draco exaggerated, sitting up in the large bed and miming an explosion with his hands. Mother was in her bedroom working on wedding plans again, so he wasn't concerned about being overheard. He was a bit ill at ease with discussing wanking with his professor, which was why he made a joke out of it.

"Everything seems to be healing nicely, Mr. Malfoy. Another wet dream or two shouldn't affect the baby, but I would like you to hold off on _wanking_, as you put it, a while longer, just to be sure," Professor Snape replied, pleased that Draco was otherwise in good health; achy testes were not included on his list of possible concerns.

"The books I have on wizard pregnancies all recommend lots of sex. It's a healthy stress reliever," Draco insisted.

"Yes, relieving stress in a healthy manner is recommended, but orgasms trigger muscle spasms in the uterus, which can be dangerous if there is a uterine tear, such as the one you suffered not even two weeks ago. Weak orgasms, like those associated with wet dreams, are less likely to reopen a tear, but stronger ones are more likely."

"Yeah, but how much longer do I have to wait? Shouldn't the tear be healed by now?"

"You need to wait at least two weeks. If there are no further complications, then you are free to proceed however you wish on Tuesday, but even then I must insist that you do not perform any strenuous activity, Mr. Malfoy, such as intercourse."

"What about on the wedding night? That's a month away," Draco replied with a smirk as he thought about the fact that Tuesday was only three days away.

"There are certain ways to perform it which would be less stressful for you and the baby and would make Mr. Potter do all of the work. However, I would recommend not consummating the marriage at all, because that will make it easier to annul."

"And if I don't want to annul it?"

"Mr. Malfoy, I understand your desire to be married when you give birth, but afterwards it is still possible to annul the wedding, even with the presence of a child." He had been looking through books on legal precedents regarding children produced in rape cases. The bearer of the child did need to be married to someone at the time of the birth to make the child legitimate. Typically the mother was already married or married someone else, making the child legally someone else's. In the rare cases where the woman wanted the child and had no one who was willing to claim the child, it was possible to marry the rapist and have the marriage annulled after the birth of the child, without revoking the child's status as a legitimate heir for both parents.

"You mean for if the Dark Lord wins? Harry will be dead, so I won't have to get the marriage annulled."

"No, even if the Dark Lord is defeated. Surely you don't wish to spend the rest of your life with someone who raped you."

"We told you already; it was a misunderstanding. It won't happen again."

"That is a very naive perspective, Mr. Malfoy. Battered spouses often tell themselves that it won't happen again, that it was an accident, and that the offender didn't mean to do it. Then the spouse snaps again and they overlook it again. One day he'll go too far and kill you or go after your child. What will you do then, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Harry isn't like that."

"You barely know him. Hasn't he cursed you enough for you to realize how violent he is?"

"No, he hasn't. Every curse, except for the one time when he didn't even know what the curse did, was a mild children's curse learned here in school."

"And when he becomes an Auror and has access to more dangerous curses?"

"He won't use them against us or I'll turn him out. I'm not gonna put up with him if he's abusive, like you seem to think he is."

"And you'll leave him, even if he defeats the Dark Lord? If he's the hero of the wizarding world?"

"Yes," Draco insisted. He couldn't picture Harry turning into the abusive monster Professor Snape described, but he had enough self-esteem not to stay in a situation like that and there was no way he was going to put his child in a situation like that.

Even if your political career depends on votes that you can only get with him at your side?"

"Yes. What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to be prepared. I'm not going to be around to watch out for you forever; soon you will be out on your own in a harsh world."

"But you agreed to be my healer for the baby."

"And I will be, but I won't be around much. I'll be with the Dark Lord, by his side. I will only be able to visit you once a month for check-ups. You, your mother, and the baby will have to make it through this war and the aftermath virtually alone."

"Are you saying you won't come back and help me anymore once the war is over or that you're not going to choose your own life over Dumbledore's and that you'll be dead soon?" Draco asked worried. He didn't want to lose Professor Snape as a mentor and as a healer. He also didn't want Professor Snape to sacrifice himself for the old man. If that was the case, he'd have to start working on the vanishing cabinet again and find a way to get rid of Dumbledore, so that Professor Snape wouldn't have to.

"I will do what is required of me. If the Dark Lord wins, it will be very difficult for me to continue to visit you. If he loses, I will be so firmly entrenched in the dark side that I fear not even my role as a spy will absolve me and I will be sent to Azkaban. Either way, I will not be around to protect you forever and I want you to be prepared. Not even your mother will be here much longer to supervise your little play family with Mr. Potter. The villa in France is ready and she will be moving there as soon as you get the all clear."

"Then what do you want me to do to be prepared?" Draco asked, relieved that Professor Snape was going through with the plan to kill Dumbledore.

"I want you to obtain leverage that you can use against Mr. Potter if you so need. Have him sign a confession that says he raped you and that is how you came to be pregnant with his child. You and I can sign it as witnesses and then if need be, you will have some leverage to use against him. If you go to the papers with the confession, he would look bad and risk time in Azkaban. If he has truly turned over a new leaf, then you keep it to yourself and there is no harm done."

"And I can use the leverage to convince Harry to leave me alone, is that it?"

"That and there is also the possibility that Mr. Potter might try to take your child away from you. Have you thought of that Mr. Malfoy? What about if the two of you split up and he wants the child? If public opinion is on his side and against yours, as it will be if he defeats the Dark Lord, then he could use his influence to gain sole custody of your child. He could force you out of the picture."

"He wouldn't do that."

"Are you so sure he wouldn't? Not even if he were to divorce you and remarry? He wouldn't try to take your child with him and give your child to another man to raise? A man who will bottom for him whenever he wants?"

Horrible images of Harry leaving him and ripping his son out of his arms started pouring into Draco's mind. He could see it happening just the way Professor Snape described. Harry would find another man. He'd be someone who was more subservient and didn't mind staying home with the kids while Harry worked long hours as an Auror; someone who was happy to bottom every night and carry multiple children for Harry. Someone who wouldn't mind raising Harry's first born, after Harry rips the baby out of Draco's arms.

"Fine, I'll do it. I'll make him sign a confession saying he raped me and then he won't be able to take my baby away from me, right?" Draco asked frightened.

"It should also say that your child was conceived during that act of rape. In cases of rape the father loses all legal rights to the child. You don't even have to let him visit the child if you so choose."

"Alright. Do you want to write it out and I'll get him to sign it?"

"I will have Harry's lawyer write it out and have Harry sign it in front of the headmaster, so that there are as many witnesses as possible. It will aid in proving the validity of the document, should it ever come into question."

"Yeah, okay. So what do I need to do?"

"Tell Mr. Potter that you are requiring him to sign the confession. If he refuses, then refuse to marry him. You will threaten to go to the Aurors and place a story in the Daily Prophet."

"Alright."

"I will summon the both of you when the document is ready," Professor Snape concluded, before letting himself out of the room of requirement.

Draco sat there for a few minutes as he tried to think about what to do. Clearly he had to tell Harry, but when?

* * *

Harry spent Saturday afternoon in Gryffindor tower celebrating their win with the rest of his team, even Ron. Ron had been reasonable enough, staying out of his way and keeping quiet most of the time. The one thing Ron did ask after the game, when he got the chance, was, "How's Malfoy?"

Harry looked around to make sure no one had heard, before whispering back his response. "The same."

Ron looked like he wanted to say more, but they were in the busy common room in the middle of their victory celebration and Ginny came over then.

Harry wanted to duck out and go back to Draco in the room of requirement about a dozen times, but he knew it would look off if he didn't stay around for this. He was team captain and he had coached his team to a win. Of course Ginny had done a good deal of the work and he made sure to mention that whenever someone congratulated him. He even made a toast to Ginny with his butterbeer.

It was late afternoon before the celebrations finally wound down enough for Harry to slip out of the common room and return to Draco.

Harry found Draco in the study reading a book and taking notes. "Been cooped up in here all day?" Harry asked, coming to rest behind Draco and looking over Draco's shoulder.

"No, I went snorkeling before lunch. I was feeling a bit hot, so I thought it'd be best to spend the rest of the day out of the sun," Draco answered, turning his head to get a glimpse of Harry. "But my back is killing me, so if you want to…"

"Yeah, do you want to go in the dragon room so your mum doesn't get mad?" Harry asked. Sex of all kinds was off limits in the dragon room, because of how close Narcissa's room was. Sex in general was supposed to be off limits and after Draco's near seduction of Harry yesterday, Harry thought it best to keep the back rubs to places where Narcissa could easily interrupt.

"Yeah, alright," Draco agreed, standing up. He wanted Harry's arms wrapped around him and Harry to snog him. When Harry didn't, Draco reached out and took Harry's hand to hold as they walked down the hall to the dragon room.

Draco was wearing a pair of shorts and summer robes, so he took off the summer robes when he got into the dragon room, before lying on the bed. He waited until he was nice and relaxed from the feel of Harry's hands on his back, before telling Harry, "Professor Snape said you can start wanking me again on Tuesday."

"Really?" Harry asked excitedly, as he continued to massage Draco's back. He was getting pretty good at these backrubs. Tuesday was only three days away and he couldn't wait to have Draco's thick cock in his hands and down his throat again. "What about your mum?"

"Don't tell her," Draco replied. He hated lying to his mum, but when she got ridiculous about something, it was best to pretend to go along with it.

"You're not just saying it's okay, because you want me to wank you, right? Professor Snape really did say it would be okay?" Harry asked concerned, still working on a knot in Draco's back.

"Of course not; Professor Snape really did say it. You can ask him yourself if you don't believe me," Draco replied. During his long snorkel, he went over what Professor Snape said and remembered this bit and decided it was safe enough to share with Harry today. It would seem weird if he had nothing to say about it.

"And what about the baby?"

"My baby's fine. He did all the tests again and got all the usual results, even the sex is still a blurry blue."

"That's good."

Harry was still rubbing Draco's back when they heard the pop signaling the apparition of food from the kitchens. Draco jumped up at the sound of food and Narcissa came out of the flower room to join the boys for dinner. After dinner the three of them sat in the sitting room and went over wedding plans. Draco and Harry were made to give their opinions on everything from dress robes, to flowers, to location.

Draco picked the dress robes and flowers and Harry suggested the room of requirement as a location, because it was safe and secure. Narcissa turned that down, but she did offer the boys the alternative of a lovely seaside garden that was available to rent for the ceremony. It wasn't the lilac forest or their indoor Hawaiian island, but it made Draco smile, so Harry told Narcissa to book it.

After wedding plans Narcissa pulled out a package Mr. Binns had sent over for Harry. It was a copy of the response wedding contract that Narcissa had her lawyer put together on Draco's behalf. Harry took the stack of parchment to the sitting room to read on the sofa and Draco followed him, looking over his shoulder while he read.

The contract itself was very dense and Harry didn't understand the legal jargon, so he quickly abandoned trying to read it and instead read the summary Mr. Binns had sent that listed all of the changes this contract made. It was a lot of changes and most of them where inconsequential and boring. He read the first dozen or so and didn't really care what color table cloth they used in their dining room, which of the Malfoy family tea sets they used in the sitting room, which set of heirloom crystal was used for dinner parties, or which set of antique furniture was used in their bedroom. It was all about Christmas parties, Samhain feasts, formal balls, and flowers for the garden.

Harry didn't even get down to the bottom of the first scroll of parchment before he concluded that none of these changes mattered one iota to him. And it was already getting late, so he wrote Mr. Binns a return owl saying to accept all of these changes and put the scroll in his backpack; he'd visit the owlery and have Hedwig deliver it when he got the chance.

* * *

Author's Notes: It should've happened ages ago, but Harry and Draco are finally going to the headmaster to talk about what happened. They'll both give their side of the story and finally get some closure, so they can enter into marriage without that day in the loo forever hanging over their heads. What do you think Dumbledore will have to say once he hears the whole story?


	45. Chapter 45

Author's Note: If you're wondering why the chapter number went down, it's because I went back and combined some chapters that happened on the same day, but were broken up because I hadn't finished writing the entire day when I posted.

* * *

Sunday morning Harry was awoken by Draco, who was softly kicking him. Harry looked up from his spot on the floor to see Draco sitting on the bed and gently pushing Harry's shoulder with his foot.

"Get up Harry, Hermione's coming," Draco said, holding up the galleon that was charmed to pass messages between Harry, Draco, and Hermione. Hermione had given it to Draco during one of the times she had come over to do homework with Draco and Harry; Harry had one too, but Harry had left his in the pocket of his robes.

"Huh?" Harry asked, still half asleep.

"I can signal her back not to come. She's your friend, not mine," Draco said, pulling out his wand to tap a message onto the coin.

"Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, or should I have called her Granger?" Draco asked. He wasn't sure when he had started calling Granger by her first name, but she had been calling him by his, so he thought it was okay.

"No, Hermione's good. She's coming now?"

"Yeah, so you might want to open the door for her. You know it only opens for you, mother, Professor Snape, and me. I could've done it, but you were in the way and she's your friend."

"Oh, yeah, I'll just go let her in," Harry said.

"I'll get dressed," Draco said, standing up and going to his closet to choose which robes he wanted to wear today. He hadn't known Hermione would want to come over so early, but now that she was, he would have to delay telling Harry about the confession Professor Snape wanted until after she leaves.

Harry exited the hut and made it to the door to the room of requirement just as Hermione knocked on it, so he let her in and led her into the sitting room. There was a short discussion regarding why Hermione was there so early, which was because she was concerned about being cornered by Ginny and Luna again after they had pestered her last night.

Then Harry went into the beach bedroom to get dressed. By the time he came back out, Draco, Hermione, and Narcissa were sitting down to breakfast on the dining patio. Harry joined them and tucked into a bowl of oatmeal as he listened to the surprisingly pleasant conversation. He would never have guessed that these three people would get along without him, but it seemed they were and that made Harry very happy.

After breakfast the three teenagers went snorkeling, followed by some homework and lunch. Then they went into the nursery and picked up their dolls. They loaded the dolls into strollers and went on a walk through the lilac forest. Harry didn't like the stroller he was trying and they stopped for him to require a different one more like Hermione's stroller.

"It sure is nice having this room to experiment with," Hermione said wistfully as they started pushing the strollers again.

"And just what are you planning?" Draco asked. He had learned to recognize Hermione's scheming voice very quickly.

"Well I was thinking that a lot of the furniture in those catalogs is for older babies. It would sure be nice if we could get an older baby to experiment with," Hermione answered.

"She's right. There were highchairs and jumpers and loads of toys," Harry said, as they approached the pond. "Let's stop here for a bit."

"Yeah, okay," Draco replied, stopping and taking Cereus out of her buggy to hold as he sat down on a large boulder by the water. "Well mother was mentioning that we should go up to the next level on the dolls soon, but we're several levels from that."

"From what?" Harry asked confused. He and Hermione were also taking their babies out to hold and sitting down by the pond to chat.

"From the level where the dolls grow. If you play with them enough and get a high enough score, you can progress to the next level. There are three levels for each of the five developmental stages. Newborn, three months, six months, nine months, and twelve months," Draco answered.

"Really? That's brilliant," Hermione replied. She had read the entire instruction manual from cover to cover, but apparently it was restricted to prevent cheating, because half of the pages were blank. The rest of the manual could not be read by anyone who had not mastered the doll.

"What are the three levels?" Harry asked warily. He thought this stage was hard enough.

Hermione's doll started fussing, so she imagined up a bottle to feed her.

"Well it starts off easy with the doll barely doing anything, like now. Then the next level gets harder, because the dolls cry more and sometimes for no reason and they move around a lot more. Mother said one threw itself out of her arms once. It fell to the floor, landed on its head, and died," Draco said. He had the baby bag and was brushing the soft blond hair on Cereus's head with a brush he found in the bag. Cereus fussed, so he gave her something Hermione called a soother, which was basically a small toy with a nipple on it that Cereus could put in her mouth, if only she could figure it out. Right now she had it angled in sideways and was having a bit of trouble with it.

"That's awful," Harry replied. Plumeria, unlike the other two babies, was asleep. She made soft murmuring sounds and wiggled, but otherwise she just laid there in his arms.

"Well it was better the doll than me. Mother said I did the same thing, but she was prepared for it, so she never dropped me," Draco replied, putting the brush away and retrieving the baby nail clippers. He laid Cereus in his lap and began to trim her nails, because each new activity generated more points than repeating a previously learned activity.

"Really? You tried to throw yourself out of your mum's arms? You were older, right?" Harry asked.

"No, mother said I did that when I was real little," Draco said.

"I didn't know babies were so active," Harry replied, looking down at Plumeria sleeping in his arms. He couldn't imagine her doing that.

"What's the third level?" Hermione asked warily, while burping Jean over her shoulder with the aid of a yellow burp rag. If the second level was crying and dropping, then she was scared about what would come third.

"More automated. Right now and also for the second level, the babies just put themselves to sleep and stay that way, unless you interact with them. The third level really needs to be done when you've got loads of time to devote to it, because they cry in the middle of the night and need attention all day long. If you miss a meal they die," Draco explained. Now he had the nail file out. It was amazing how many little things he could find to do with Hermione's baby bag.

"That sounds like a lot of work. Maybe we should just keep them this level," Harry replied.

"But it goes quickly. The third level only lasts a day," Draco replied, putting away the nail file and trying to figure out what the other items in the bag did. There was a weird muggle stick with a blue end and a metal end, which he discarded for being muggle. He wasn't about to kill his doll with muggle artifacts imagined by Hermione. Instead he pulled out a small rattle and put it in Cereus' free hand; the one that wasn't holding the muggle nipple toy.

"That doesn't sound too bad," Hermione said. Jean was finished burping, so she grabbed the thermometer from where Draco had discarded it on the ground. She performed a cleaning charm and then proceeded to take the baby's temperature, which was normal. "Maybe one weekend I could stay over and we could all get our dolls through the third level together. If there are three of us working together, then we can each have a break."

"Yeah, alright. When do you want to try the next level?" Harry asked warily, concerned that even with three people it'd be a lot of work. Cereus dropped the soother, so Harry picked it up, cleaned it, and put it in Plumeria's mouth. Plumeria quickly snatched it out of her mouth and proceeded to try to put it back in her mouth, which was a daunting task for a newborn.

"Well we shouldn't do it until we have enough points to make it through the third level, so that the second and third levels go quickly. We're likely to lose as many points as we earn in those levels. Mother said she got trapped many times in the second level and couldn't earn enough points to make it to the third level," Draco explained, glad his mother had given him the crash course in how the dolls worked.

"How much information did your mum give you exactly, Draco?" Hermione asked, wondering if Draco had been cheating. He had way more points than either she or Harry had and cheating would explain it.

"Mostly just what I told you. I read the parenting book, same one as you've read, and then the other day mother told me about the levels while you lot were in herbology," Draco answered. The main reason he had more points was that he hadn't lost any and he had tried every little baby thing he could find and new things were worth five times the points as repeating an old thing.

"Yeah, let's get going. I want to see what else I can do to earn more points," Harry said, getting up and putting Plumeria and her soother in her stroller. He strapped her in and started the toys with the lights up as the others also got up and put their babies back in their strollers.

The three of them went back into the nursery and played with the infant carseats. Hermione imagined the backseat of a car and one appeared in the middle of the rug. Draco had very little experience with being in a car and even less with infant carseats, so Hermione and Harry did most of the work of getting the carseats in, while Draco watched. Then Draco became hungry, so he went out to the sitting room to get a snack while Harry and Hermione cleaned up the nursery.

Draco found some fruit to eat from the icebox. It wasn't as good as the room's fruit, but it was real melon from the kitchens. After that he was still hungry, so he grabbed some of the carrot sticks as well. He plopped down on the sofa with his carrots.

Harry and Hermione folded down the strollers and stacked them into the closet. "I'll have to talk to Narcissa about switching the order to the other type of stroller," Harry said.

"It's good you haven't sent in the order form. I would've thought you would send it in right away once Narcissa finished it," Hermione replied, putting a carseat into the closet.

"We still don't know for certain that it's a boy and I think Draco will want the other pattern if it's a girl," Harry explained, leading Hermione out into the sitting room to join Draco.

"Have you tried repeating the spell?" Hermione asked, sitting down on the loveseat, while Harry sat down on the sofa next to Draco.

"Yeah, Professor Snape just did it again yesterday morning with the same result," Draco said joining the conversation and munching on carrots.

"Perhaps I'll go to the library and find a book on it," Hermione suggested.

"Just imagine it," Harry replied, having experience with the room providing needed books.

"There's no need. Mother thinks it's just too early to tell," Draco replied yawning again, but Hermione already had a book in hand.

"Do you want me to rub your back before you go to sleep?" Harry asked Draco. He didn't want to deal with a whiney Draco.

"Yeah, okay," Draco replied, rubbing his eyes, before allowing Harry to pull him up and lead him off to the dragon room for a nap.

"I'll just stay out here and read," Hermione called to the boys as they walked down the hall and out of sight.

Draco took off his summer robes and Harry massaged his back. "Draco?" Harry asked while rubbing, once his boyfriend seemed relaxed.

"Hmm?" Draco replied.

"Do you think that maybe we could start sharing a baby?" Harry asked hopefully. He was worried about how much work it'd be to get two dolls through the harder stages.

"You just want to use mine, because I have twice as many points as you do," Draco replied.

"We could use your doll if you want, but I think it'd be nice to work on it together, as a team, like we'll do when we have the real baby," Harry replied.

"Yeah, that sounds nice," Draco agreed, thinking that he would make Harry get up with the doll in the middle of the night.

"Brilliant," Harry replied happily, continuing to rub Draco's back.

Draco let out another yawn and closed his eyes, so Harry left him to go to sleep. Harry closed the door quietly and went back to the sitting room to find Hermione engrossed in her new book.

"Healing is really quite fascinating," Hermione said, looking up from her book.

"Brilliant; I need to get some reading done too," Harry replied, before getting his charms book from the study and joining Hermione in the sitting room.

The two friends read in silence for an hour before Narcissa came out of her room with her latest wedding ideas, this time for the cake. Hermione put down her book to gush over how wonderful the various cakes were and Harry tried to stay out of the way, especially because he didn't want to agree to a cake Draco didn't like.

Then Harry told Narcissa about decided to switch the stroller and she agreed, going to her room to get the order form.

Narcissa came back and made the necessary changes. "Mam?" Hermione asked to get Narcissa's attention.

"Yes dear?" Narcissa replied.

"I was just wondering if you could cast the sex determination spell for me to see. Harry and Draco tell me it's been giving a wonky result," Hermione replied.

"Well yes, I can cast it once Draco wakes up," Narcissa replied. "But I'm sure the result is just because it's too soon."

"What did you find Hermione?" Harry asked eagerly. He wanted to make sure there was nothing wrong with his baby and Hermione had that look she gets when she knows something.

"Well the book doesn't say anything about the spell giving wonky results if it's too early in the pregnancy. Before a certain point, the pregnancy is undetectable and the spell will give no results. After the pregnancy is detectable, it should give either one of the two standard results. I'd like to see what the error you're getting looks like, so that I can compare it to the possible errors the book describes," Hermione said, leaving out her suspicions regarding which error she thought it was. Harry and Draco had given her enough description of the error for her to take a guess, but she didn't want to say anything before she was certain.

"Well then I'll perform the spell as soon as Draco wakes up," Narcissa replied.

Hermione and Harry went back to their reading and Narcissa went back to her cakes. When Draco woke up and joined them in the sitting room, Narcissa started him cake related questions until they agreed on a cake. Then she said, "Oh and Hermione wanted to observe the sex determination spell. I've agreed to cast it for her, if that's alright with you."

"Yeah, go ahead," Draco replied. He figured it was just Hermione being a know-it-all again. She probably fancied herself a healer this week.

Narcissa cast the spell and Hermione watched as the blurry blue letters appeared. Hermione paid special attention to the fact that the middle letter was the number 8.

"Well, what does the book say?" Harry asked. He was filled with anticipation.

"Well I don't think it's bad news, but I'd like to see it one more time, to confirm," Hermione said, turning to the page in her book with a picture that looked just like the results that had appeared over Draco.

"What's your friend up to Harry?" Draco asked.

"Alright dear," Narcissa said to Hermione, before casting the spell again to the same result as always.

"She's been reading the book on the possible errors with this spell. I suspect she knows what's going on; Snape and your mum are probably casting it wrong," Harry replied.

"Actually, I think the spell is being cast correctly and the blurry word is the correct result," Hermione said, showing the appropriate page in her book to Narcissa, who quickly began to scan the page to figure out the problem. The picture was identical to the blurry result she got every time when she cast that spell.

"There isn't something wrong with the baby, is there?" Harry asked worriedly.

"Oh my," Narcissa said.

"What is it?" Harry asked. He was really getting frightened for the baby now.

"It's not a bad thing, Harry, so you can calm down. Nothing is wrong," Hermione said, before turning to Narcissa. "Do you think you can cast this other spell to confirm?" There were details regarding the casting of the confirmatory spell underneath the section detailing the issue with the error.

"Well I've never done it before, but I can try," Narcissa replied.

"Mother, what's going on?" Draco asked somewhat annoyed and upset.

"Draco, there is a possibility that you're carrying twins," Narcissa answered. "It would explain the blurry result, because what we're seeing is the word 'boy' written twice, one on top of the other."

"Twins?" Harry asked in a high pitched screech.

"Are you having me on?" Draco asked, looking from mother to Granger and back.

"No Draco, this book explains that it's a possibility and the spell to check is harmless. Would it be alright if I try it?" Narcissa asked.

Draco nodded, still not comprehending the twins thing. Narcissa cast her spell and the words, 'Two Embryos,' appeared over Draco stomach.

"Merlin's bloody pants," Harry said in a state of shock. Two babies? What was he going to do with two babies? He barely knew what to do with one.

"No, it must be wrong. Do it again," Draco said, not wanting to believe that he was carrying twins.

"If the spell was done wrong, nothing at all would appear," Hermione replied.

Narcissa cast the spell again to the same result.

"I can't believe you did this to me Potter," Draco said, turning to Harry in his fury at the news.

"It's going to be okay. Your mum and I'll help take care of them," Harry said, trying to reassure Draco.

Draco responded by shooting a Conjunctivituis Curse at Harry and storming off to the dragon room, which he locked and warded behind him, so that Harry wouldn't follow.

"Can't see," Harry said, rubbing his eyes, his sight being negatively affected by Draco's curse. "What was that for?"

"Apparently my son is not happy with the news," Narcissa answered somewhat dismayed about Draco's behavior and planning on punishing him. She cast the counter charm and restored Harry's sight.

"I have to go talk to him," Harry said now that his sight was restored. He walked down the hallway to Draco's room with Hermione and Narcissa following him. He tried to open the door, but couldn't. "It's locked."

"Perhaps we should let him cool off," Narcissa suggested.

"But it's almost dinner time! He'll get sick if he doesn't eat," Harry replied, casting alohamora without success.

"The door is heavily warded Harry. If Draco doesn't want you coming in that badly, then I think you should give him time, like his mum said," Hermione said.

"I'll summon Dobby and have him deliver Draco's food to his bedroom," Narcissa said, walking away, back towards the sitting room.

Harry conceded defeat and let Hermione guide him back to the sitting room, where Narcissa had summoned Dobby. Dobby agreed and disappeared again as Harry and Hermione took their seats on the sofa.

"What am I gonna do Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Just give him time; Draco will come around," Hermione reassured him.

"Two babies while we're in hiding? He's right: this is gonna be a lot harder than one baby," Harry replied.

"Yes, but I'll be there to help too. Between the four of us, we can manage," Hermione insisted.

"We'll have to order more clothes and change the furniture order. But Hermione is right Harry: we will be okay," Narcissa added.

Dinner for three appeared at the dining table, so Hermione, Harry, and Narcissa went outside to eat. Harry felt numb with worry and concern and barely touched his food. Draco still didn't come out after dinner, so Hermione stayed to keep Harry busy with homework. Hermione waited until just before curfew to leave, with the departing words of, "Don't worry Harry; he'll come around.

* * *

Author's Note: I've gotten a couple of reviews now saying that this story is boring because it's too long and fluffy without much action. There won't be much action at all towards the defeat of Voldemort/horcruxes plotline, because that's covered in the books, but I have tried to cut down on the fluffiness in the last couple of chapters. Now I'm looking for things in the timeline I developed to cut, like the weekend Draco and Harry take their practice dolls through the next stage. Does anyone actually want to see Harry up all night struggling with a crying baby? If no one tells me not to, I'm gonna cut it. And if you readers could point out to me when I go off on a boring fluffy tangent, I'd really appreciate it and will then try to make sure I don't do that again.


	46. Chapter 46

Author's Note: No censorship was needed in this chapter. Thank you everyone for your reviews! I will try to move the story along and cut back on the fluff.

* * *

Draco was furious with Harry. Twins were twice as much work as a single baby and the pregnancy would be twice as hard! It was going to be difficult enough getting through a Peverell pregnancy with only mother and Professor Snape for medical care; it might prove impossible to get through it with twins, especially if complications arise. Twin pregnancies were much more likely to suffer from complications, such as premature labor. That combined with the second cervix that was still the bane of his existence and Draco was terrified he'd lose both babies. There was even an increased chance he could die during childbirth with twins as opposed to a normal childbirth. There was always a risk, but twins were more than twice as risky and that didn't even include caring for two babies after the birth.

Odds were that Harry would be off saving the world by the time the babies were born. Draco would be left alone with two newborns with no one to help him except for mother for Merlin knows how long. Bihourly feedings in the middle of the night times two babies, twice as many dirty nappies, twice as much vomit, and nipples that would be twice as sore from having twice as many gums chewing on them. Draco didn't want to be the one enduring the pregnancy; Harry had forced him into it and now he was finding out that Harry was forcing twice as many children off on him.

So yes, Draco did hex Harry and he would do it again it Harry was in front of him now. He would kick Harry in the ballocks too, for that matter. That would show Harry what he thought of twins. No sense of reason could be talked into him; he was not about to listen to pleas of ignorance from Harry. He could hear them in his head if he closed his eyes. _Please Draco; I didn't even know you could get pregnant. I had no idea you'd get knocked up with twins! _Harry's voice echoed in his head.

There was no excuse for twins and that one was pathetic. He imagined the retort he would scream back at Harry. _You didn't know? That's your excuse? For forcing me into this? Your ignorance makes this okay? I don't think so Potter!_ Then he would hit Harry in the nose so hard it would bleed like it did on the train.

Draco's fantasies weren't particularly pleasant, but they did provide him with some comfort as he spent the night secluded in his room in the hut. He ate dinner alone, studied alone, and went to sleep alone. He woke up early the next morning and showered alone, before finding mother and asking her to do a quick examination. Once she ruled that the baby was fine, he grabbed his school bag and went to the Great Hall, for the first time in almost two weeks, to have breakfast without Harry.

"You're back, Draco!" Greg exclaimed as Draco sat down next to him.

"Why do you look like you want to torture and kill helpless puppies?" Pansy asked, seeing the scowl on Draco face. "I thought you'd be happy to be back."

"You thought wrong," Draco replied, grabbing a bowl of oatmeal and adding some brown sugar.

"What were you doing all weekend?" Greg asked. "You weren't even at the match.

"I heard Gryffindor won. Stupid bloody Potter and his stupid bloody team; why would I want to see them win?" Draco asked, savagely jabbing his spoon into his oatmeal, before taking a bite.

"We were all rooting for the Ravenclaw team, of course. Tell me Draco darling, are you in the mood for some revenge on Potter?" Pansy asked, being familiar with Draco's moods. Draco hadn't been in this sort of a mood in months, if not all year, and she was itching to take advantage of it. Maybe they could put doxy eggs in Potter's hair; they'd probably thrive and multiply in that rat's nest.

Draco took another bite of oatmeal and swallowed. "I ran into Potter yesterday and cursed him with conjunctivitis." He knew Pansy and the other Slytherins would be impressed, so then he did an impersonation of Harry rubbing his eyes, mimed a pair of glasses falling off, and said, "Help I can't see! I'm a speccy git and I've lost my glasses!" He tried to put his usual humor into it, but somehow it fell flat and the scowl returned to his face.

"And what did he do back? Put a curse of gloom and ill-will on you?" Theo asked, overhearing the discussion.

"No, he didn't do anything. Professor Snape just reminded him last week that I'm still healing. I'm highly fragile and he doesn't want to risk touching me. I think it's the perfect time to corner him and hex him," Draco suggested.

"You mean Professor Snape reminded him after you spent the duration of our fight Tuesday cowering behind a shield?" Vince asked.

"Yes, exactly. I was in pain last Tuesday; now I'm feeling loads better, only Potter doesn't know that. What have you guys been planning?" Draco asked, hopeful that his fellow Slytherins had been planning something against Harry in his absence. He filled another bowl with fruit and violently stabbed his fork through a chunk of honeydew as he listened.

* * *

Meanwhile, Harry woke up alone in the bedroom by the beach. He first went to Draco's room, planning to apologize and beg Draco's forgiveness, but the room was empty. He walked back to his bedroom to get ready for school, but he stopped when he noticed that Narcissa was eating breakfast out on the dining patio, alone. He went outside and asked, "Mam, have you seen Draco?"

"I did, Harry. He went down to breakfast at the Great Hall. I checked him over and he's fine," Narcissa answered.

"Oh… Did he still seem mad at me?" Harry wanted to know, but he also didn't want to know.

"Yes, I believe he is still upset with you. I don't believe there have been two sons born into the Malfoy family in over a thousand years, because of the desire not to split up the land and wealth associated with the Manor. A female second child could be given a lesser property, but twin firstborn boys will create a legal issue when it comes to inheritance. He'll get over it, but do try to understand and give him some time," Narcissa replied.

"Oh," Harry said, not understanding how Draco could be this upset over inheritance. "Wait, twin boys? You mean they're both boys?"

"Yes. The sex determination spell was producing the word boy twice, making it blurry. The two letter Os, one of top of the other, made the middle letter resemble the number eight."

Harry hadn't had time to process this information last night with Draco's negative reaction, but now a smile rose to face and he said, "I have two sons."

"Yes, but perhaps you should change out of your nightclothes and go to class, so that you can get an education and provide for your sons," Narcissa replied. Harry wasn't late yet, but he would be if he just continued to stand there.

Harry went through his morning routine alone, wondering if Draco would still be refusing to speak with him on their wedding day. But then Harry noticed the time and realized that he was late and needed to run to make it to potions class on time.

* * *

Draco was disappointed to learn that no one had taken the initiative to plan Harry's humiliation without him. The best suggestion was Pansy's doxy egg idea and that wouldn't work, because Harry would never notice and would surely still be infested at some distant point in the future when Draco chose to forgive Harry; or not forgive Harry, but let Harry suck him off anyway. And Draco didn't want to end up cleaning the doxies out of Harry's hair, so he ruled that option out.

Draco spent the morning discussing plans for his revenge on Harry with his fellow Slytherins. He recruited the three other Slytherins taking a NEWT in potions to help him. Theo, Blaise, and Milli were among the least vicious Slytherins in their year and weren't exactly keen on torturing Harry, but he was able to talk them into distracting Harry while he added something to Harry's cauldron. It wasn't perfect, but it would have to do.

Draco pulled out his potions book and went over the potion that they were making this week and all of the potential pitfalls to watch out for. "Be careful to avoid adding doxy droppings to boomslag skin, because the mixture is quite intoxicating and breathing in the fumes can leave one a bumbling buffoon," Draco read. It was perfect, because he happened to have some doxy droppings in his potions kit.

The bell rang, so Draco put his book away and went to potions with his friends. Draco turned in his latest essay and noticed that Harry wasn't there as he pulled out the various potions ingredients he would use today. He pulled out the doxy droppings and put them in a small dish, covering them with dried fig leaves. They were using dried fig leaves today, so no one would notice the extra dish.

Harry came into class, just as the bell rang. He went over to Hermione, Ron, and Ernie and set to work on his potion. He glanced over at the Slytherin table and noticed Draco smirking to himself as he cut and prepped his potion ingredients. Harry figured that Draco must not be all that mad at him anymore if Draco was smirking, so he turned back to his own table and set to work.

"Harry, is it true you let Draco curse you yesterday and you didn't do anything to retaliate?" Blaise asked an hour into class, approaching the Gryffindor table when he had his potion under a self-stirring charm.

"Did he tell you that?" Harry asked, looking over at Draco.

"Yeah, what of it Potter?" Draco asked from across the room.

"Too cowardly to defend yourself, eh Potter?" Blaise asked again. Millicent and Theo were supposed to be helping taunt Potter, but they were both just standing silently behind him, so he had to do all of the talking.

"No, but Draco's still injured and I didn't want to get anymore detentions," Harry replied, looking at Blaise and then the other two Slytherins standing silently behind Blaise. Nott and Bulstrode weren't usually a problem, so he turned back to stirring his caldron.

While Harry was looking at Blaise, Draco levitated the doxy droppings and excess dried fig leaves into Harry's caldron, which Harry conveniently stirred in for him. Now all he had to do was finish his own potion and wait for Harry to start making a fool out of himself.

"Hermione, does my potion look right to you? It's bluer than everybody else's," Harry said, stirring his suddenly blue potion. Everyone else had either a yellow or a greenish yellow potion simmering in their cauldrons.

"It's not supposed to be that bright blue color," Hermione commented, bending down to sniff it. "It smells off too. I think you added too many fig leaves. Adding too many fig leaves can give it a bluish color."

"Bugger," Harry said under his breath, continuing to stir in hopes of salvaging his potion. "How can I fix it?"

"Try adding some peppermint to neutralize the fig leaves," Hermione suggested.

Harry didn't have any better ideas, so he did as Hermione suggested and his potion did start tipping back towards yellowish and was now a healthy verdant shade of green.

Slughorn came over and asked Harry if he was feeling alright, because Harry's potion making skills had suffered a serious blow as of late and if it was a medical condition, Harry ought to seek help for it.

"I'll show you medical condition. I'll shove my medical condition up your arse," Harry muttered under his breath as he tried to continue on with his ruined potion.

"Sorry mate. You'll get it right next time," Ron said cheerfully. Ron's potion was a perfect sunshine yellow.

"What do you know? You're crap at potions," Harry replied, not knowing where that came from.

"Sorry, I was just trying to be helpful," Ron replied sheepishly, not noticing the puddle of water spreading out under his work area from where Ernie had spilled earlier. He took a step back and slipped in the puddle, before sliding and falling head first into Harry's cauldron.

"Ron, are you alright?" Hermione asked concerned.

"Yes, just wonderful," Ron replied, lifting his head up with a wide grin plastered to his face, despite the green potion that was soaked through his red hair and dripping down off of his chin.

"A simple cheering potion shouldn't do any lasting harm. He might be a bit cheerful for the next day or so," Slughorn said, approaching the scene of the potion accident.

"Hermione, I never noticed how pert and bouncy…" Ron started to say, but the next bit was unintelligible, because Ron shoved his fist into his mouth to stem the flow of words. After a minute he stepped in closer to Hermione, reaching out to her with one hand and removing his other fist to reach out and cup Hermione's face with it. "Can I kiss you?"

"Ah, no Ronald. You're disgusting, plus you're still dripping in Harry's potion," Hermione replied, removing Ron's hand from her face and holding out her other hand in a defensive position, to block Ron from getting any closer to her.

"But your hair is so shiny; I just want to touch it," Ron replied.

Hermione didn't say anything but gave Ron a quizzical look.

"And you're lips are so cherry red I want to snog them," Ron added. "And your hips-" The last part was mumbled, because Ron shoved his fist back into his mouth to stop it.

"Mr. Weasley, perhaps you better go to the hospital wing to await the wearing off of this potion?" Professor Slughorn asked. "Mr. Macmillan, you seem to be finished with your potion. Why don't you just escort our friend Mr. Weasley to the hospital wing and I'll have Ms. Granger bottle me a flask of your work."

"Yes Professor," Ernie said, putting down his stirring rod.

Ernie left with Ron. Hermione and Harry packed up Ernie's potion supplies and bottled a sample of Ernie's potion, turning it into Professor Slughorn, before doing the same with Ron's potion and then their own. Harry's slight blabbering and ill mood wore off quickly and he was back to normal and wondering what had gotten into him earlier.

"I think Potter's upset Weasley was making a move on his witch," Theo said.

"I wonder which one the mudblood will choose; the blood traitor or the halfblood?" Draco asked.

"Language Mr. Malfoy. You may be too ill to serve a detention this week, but I'll have you in here scrubbing cauldrons next week," Professor Slughorn threatened. He excused Harry and Weasley's language as the side-effect of the ruined potion, but Malfoy hadn't been near it.

"She couldn't possibly choose Weasley: he's a clueless moron," Milli said.

"She couldn't possibly choose Potter either; not unless she fancies being bit by fleas," Draco replied. He considered doing an impersonation of Hermione being bit by Harry's fleas, but he was busy with the final steps in his potion; it would have to wait.

"Language Mr. Malfoy. This is the second time I've had to tell you, so it'll be detention. You can scrub my cauldrons out next week when you're feeling better," Professor Slughorn said.

"Ah, come on," Draco complained. "You can't be serious."

"I am very serious Mr. Malfoy. An injury, no matter how severe it may be, doesn't grant you the right to mouth off in my classroom," Professor Slughorn replied, before going to talk to the Ravenclaw table.

Seeing that Professor Slughorn was preoccupied again, Harry put on his best sneer and asked, "How's daddy doing in Azkaban Malfoy?" Maybe he shouldn't have asked it, given Draco's detention, but he had enough practice faking fights to know he shouldn't leave it with Draco getting in the last word. Besides, the worst that could happen was that he'd get detention with Draco, which wasn't a big deal to Harry.

"Brilliant. He says it's all caviar and sunshine; how's your father doing Potter?" Draco asked with a smirk.

Professor Slughorn noticed that Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy were still going at it, so he walked over to Harry and Hermione and said, "You lot are all finish with the day's potion. I suggest you turn in your written assignment if you haven't done so already and leave."

"But sir, what about Ernie's things?" Harry asked, while Hermione grabbed up Ron's potion supplies along with her own.

"He will come back for them. I don't believe you turned in your essay yet Mr. Potter," Professor Slughorn reminded him.

"No, I forgot," Harry said, digging in his bag for his essay.

Draco grabbed his things and cleared out of the room while Harry was talking to Professor Slughorn. He went to the defense classroom and waited until the bell rang and a bunch of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff second years cleared out of the room, before he went in.

"Mr. Malfoy, to what do I owe this honor?" Professor Snape asked.

"I'm ready to move back into the dungeons sir," Draco replied.

"Did he have a problem with signing the contract then?" Professor Snape asked.

"Oh…um, no, I forgot to ask. We had a fight about something else. Two someone elses, actually," Draco answered.

"Well my next class is already filling in, so perhaps we can speak more of this before dinner," Professor Snape suggested.

Draco agreed and went back to the Slytherin dungeons to do his homework with his friends before lunch. He stopped by the kitchens along the way and got a big bowl of ice cream from the elves. After his free period he went to lunch and then history of magic, before heading to Professor Snape's office. Professor Snape wasn't there yet, so he pulled out his potions book, because it was the only book in his bag at the moment, and read about the following week's potion.

Professor Snape arrived ten minutes later and motioned Draco inside and then warded the door. "Now please tell me what is going on Mr. Malfoy," Professor Snape requested.

"Granger figured out that I was pregnant with twins and had mother cast a spell to confirm this. Consequently, I'm mad at Harry and since it'll be two weeks tomorrow, I'd like to go back to my dorm," Draco explained.

"Twins will complicate matters Mr. Malfoy. If you would like to go back to your dorm, you may, but in that case I will have to send your mother to the villa tomorrow," Professor Snape replied.

"I know about the complications; that's why I'm mad at Harry. I'll tell mother to prepare to be transferred. I know she can't stay here in the castle without me and she'd have to go soon anyway," Draco said.

"And will you still work on having Mr. Potter sign that confession?" Professor Snape asked.

"Yes, I will," Draco answered.

"Very well Mr. Malfoy, you may go," Professor Snape dismissed him.

Draco left to go to the room of requirement, where he found both mother and Harry sitting in the living room. Their conversation ended abruptly when he entered, so he knew they were talking about him. He proceeded undaunted and entered the hut, sitting in the only armchair in the sitting room.

"Draco, how was your day?" Narcissa asked. She was worried about her son, but she didn't let it show.

"Fine. I talked to Professor Snape and he has agreed that I'm fit to return back to the Slytherin dorm. He'll be by to move you sometime tomorrow," Draco answered.

"That soon? I had hoped we'd have another week together," Narcissa replied.

"I know, but I will still be stopping by to visit you regularly. I'll owl you with any changes to the baby furniture order form and you can contact me with any wedding questions," Draco replied.

"So we are still getting married?" Harry asked hopefully. If they were still getting married, then Draco couldn't be all that mad at him, could he?  
"For now, we will continue with the arrangements," Draco answered. "Mother, I would like to speak with Harry alone."

Narcissa was hesitant to leave the two boys alone, worried that they would either start fooling around or cursing each other; with Draco's current mood both possibilities were likely. But Harry and Draco were both looking at her expectantly and she had things to pack, so she said, "Alright, but behave please." Harry and Draco agreed, so Narcissa went to her room.

Draco closed the door behind his mother with a wave of his wand and a nonverbal spell. Then he locked, warded, and silenced the door and silenced the room in general.

"What's going on?" Harry asked, noticing the great lengths Draco was going to.

"I need to speak with you and I would prefer to keep it quiet from mother," Draco answered, lowering his wand.

"Is this about our fight in potions?" Harry asked.

"No, this is about what Professor Snape said to me. He suggested that if I go through with this wedding and having my children become legitimate heirs, I could risk losing them to you, if and when we separate. As it is, because they were conceived during a rape, you don't have a chance of gaining custody of them, but that'll be harder to prove later on. He therefore recommends that I have you sign a confession detailing the rape and conception, so that I have proof should I ever need it. I think this is reasonable."

"You want me to sign a confession saying that I raped you?" Harry asked confused. "I thought you didn't want anyone to know?"

"I don't and no one new will know. You'll sign it in front of Dumbledore as a witness and I'll tuck it aside for use only if you try to take my children away from me. Think about how it'll look if we split up: you're the Bloody-Boy-Who-Lived and future Savior of the Wizarding World, while I'm the son of a convicted Death Eater with a Dark Mark on my arm," Draco replied, touching his sleeve over his mark.

Harry thought about it and agreed that it looked bad for Draco and he also thought that this was his own fault and that he ought to take responsibility for it and confess. "Alright, I'll do it," Harry agreed, hoping that his willingness to cooperate would lead Draco to forgive him for the twins.

"Good. I suspect Professor Snape will contact you when the document is ready to be signed. I shall pack and return to my dorm room," Draco said, before removing the wards, silencing charms, and locks on the door. Then he went into the dragon room to pack. Afterwards he went into the flower room to talk to his mother. He took a seat on her bed and tried to think of what he should say.

"Draco, I'm going to miss you," Narcissa said, starting the conversation.

"I'll miss you too mother," Draco replied.

"I know that you're upset about the news, but try not to take it out on Harry. Hexing your spouse is not dignified," Narcissa said.

"Yes mother," Draco replied. He knew that what she was saying was true, but he also still thought Harry deserved it and part of him wanted to do it again.

"And when you do forgive him, please do not do anything inappropriate with him. It will be better if you save it for the wedding night, Draco."

"Trust me, I don't plan on it." At the time, Draco meant it, despite his previous wavering on the subject.

"Good. And I've already made some adjustments on the order form to get two of most things and to get a double stroller. We won't be able to use the old Malfoy nursery furniture with twins, so I'll have to work on ordering a new double set and ordering more clothing. Would you like the boys to have identical outfits, or similar, or completely different, or a mixture?" Narcissa asked.

"Mostly identical, for the cute stuff. But the stuff that was just okay, get something similar," Draco answered. His mother would know what he meant, because they had spent hours going over that blasted catalog together.

"Take care of yourself and my grandsons my dragon," Narcissa said, coming over and sitting next to her son on the bed to give Draco a hug.

Draco hugged his mother back and then went to the dragon room to get his things, before returning to the Slytherin dungeons.

* * *

Author's Note: Draco's detention from Slughorn might seem unimportant now, but it's one of those spiraling things that gets worse the more Draco tries to get out of it… and being a Slytherin, Draco's going to try every way he can think of to get out of it.


	47. Chapter 47

Author's Note: This chapter has been censored. To read the full version, go to AO3; you can find the link on my profile page.

Thank you HarryPottersGirl2010, Lee, Nins, and ChaosLady for leaving me those helpful reviews!

* * *

Harry was distraught. He watched through the window of the beach bedroom as Draco left Monday night. Harry should have been doing homework, studying, or even practicing in the nursery with Plumeria, but he didn't. He stayed in the beach bedroom and cried. Draco was still mad at him about the twins and now wanted a signed confession to the rape. He had been trying to build a real relationship with Draco, but now, more than ever, it looked like Draco was just going along with it for the sake of the baby…or rather babies.

Now there would be two babies that would probably hate him. Two babies that Draco might decide were better off without ever knowing him. Two babies who Voldemort might find out about and decide to kill. Two babies that would be so much harder to care for when they were on the run; Draco was right, two babies would be a lot worse than one.

Harry spent the afternoon feeling sorry for himself. He heard the pop of dinner appearing, but he ignored it. It wasn't until Narcissa knocked on his bedroom door that he stopped crying, wiped his face, and got up off of his bed to get to the door.

Narcissa had just been meaning to drag a mopey Harry to dinner, but when she saw him, she realized that he must have been crying, so she took him into her arms in a hug. "It's going to be alright. My son is a Malfoy, which makes him stubborn, not stupid," Narcissa said, leading Harry to sit down on the sofa in the sitting room. "He'll come around."

Harry nodded his head and let Narcissa comfort him, before agreeing to eat a bit of dinner. He didn't eat much and afterwards he did his homework and went to sleep, without prepping himself, because there was no point to it if Draco didn't want him. He woke up the next morning to the sound of Professor Snape's voice.

"Mr. Potter, I suggest you return to your common room and vacate the premises, before I have to get Professor McGonagall involved," Professor Snape announced, looking into Harry's bedroom window from the dining patio.

"Um, yeah, okay. I'll pack up after class," Harry replied, barely awake.

"See that you do. I'm returning Lady Narcissa before class and I expect you to be on time," Professor Snape replied.

"Professor?" Harry asked, suddenly remembering what Draco had told him yesterday.

"Yes Mr. Potter?"

"Is it true that you asked Draco to have me sign a confession?" Harry asked.

Professor Snape looked around to make sure Narcissa wasn't present and wouldn't overhear before answering, "Yes it is, Mr. Potter. Would you like to comment on that? Perhaps you would suggest that I am overstepping my role as head of Slytherin house?"

"Um, no, I was just wondering. I better get dressed," Harry replied. He'd wanted to take responsibility for what he'd done right after it happened; it was Draco who had always insisted on keeping it quiet.

Snape went in to speak with Narcissa and Harry got ready and went down to class alone; he spent his entire day alone. After class Harry packed up his things and moved back to Gryffindor tower. Dean, Seamus, and Neville surrounded him as he put his things away in their dorm room and began barraging him with questions.

"Are you coming back for good now Harry?" Neville asked.

"Did you get tired of having the room of requirement to yourself, mate?" Dean asked.

"Did ol' McGonagall give yeh the boot?" Seamus asked.

"Have you forgiven Ron?" Dean asked

"Did you miss us?" Neville asked.

"Look guys, I don't feel like answering the twenty questions right now," Harry said.

"Yeah, so bugger off," Ron said, coming into the room.

Neville, Dean, and Seamus all left the room and Ron sat down on his bed. Thankfully, Ron was quiet the entire time and didn't say anything as Harry put his clothes back in the proper drawers and hung up his school robes. Only when it was time for dinner did Ron ask, "You coming down to the Great Hall mate?"

Harry considered answering no, because he wasn't that hungry. But then it occurred to him that Draco would be down in the Great Hall eating and he might have a chance to see Draco there. Even if they couldn't talk, Harry could at least see Draco and that was better than staying up in the dorm moping and feeling sorry for himself. "Yeah, let's go," Harry finally answered.

During dinner Harry sat at the Gryffindor table with his friends, making sure that he had a good view of Draco. Draco was smiling and laughing and seemed in a much better mood than Draco had been in last time they had talked, but then Draco wasn't talking to Harry right now and that fact probably made all of the difference. Draco was talking to Parkinson in the middle of Draco's usual Slytherin gang composed of Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini, and Bulstrode.

"Harry, you need to eat something," Hermione said, shoveling steak and kidney pie onto his plate.

Harry took a few bites and tried to pay attention to his friends' meaningless small talk around him, but his mood was still sour and his attention was still on Draco.

Harry watched as laughter broke out at the Slytherin table and then a large group composed of most of the Slytherin sixth years got up and left as one, with Draco's platinum blond hair visible in the middle. Now that Draco was gone, there was no point hanging around the Great Hall, so Harry excused himself to the common room, abandoning his half eaten dinner. He would have gone all of the way up to bed and spent the evening feeling sorry for himself, but Hermione followed him and wouldn't let him. Instead they spent the evening doing their homework.

* * *

Monday evening Pansy, Blaise, and Draco got together to discuss all of the horrible things they should do to Potter. Draco came up with a reason to reject most of them, because he didn't want to do any lasting harm to Harry and he didn't want to have to clean Harry up. No one had any ideas Draco really liked. Pansy had a mildly amusing idea about bubotuber pus that was almost harmless, which Draco couldn't think of an argument against, because it was late and his brain was no longer functioning correctly. He went to sleep thinking he'd deal with it in the morning.

As soon as Draco was done with his lunch the next day, he headed down to Professor Snape's office. Mother didn't examine him this morning and since it was two weeks to the day since the near miscarriage, he was to have one last examination. Well not the last last, because he would still have checkups every month or so, but the last of the daily checkups, because if he received the all clear today, he would be officially healed and free to wank again.

Wanking was very important to Draco right now, because he was _exceedingly_ horny. He hadn't had another wet dream, but he really needed to have some release. Thus he was looking forward to this appointment and the potential celebratory wank that he would partake in once it was over.

Professor Snape started with all of the usual diagnostic tests, but included for the first time the spell to check the number of babies. He hadn't thought to check for twins before; he wasn't a professional healer and he'd only covered one pregnancy before. Now he realized that he was remiss in his care of Draco and had spent the previous evening reviewing the literature on Peverell pregnancies with multiples. Centaurs almost never produced twins, but Peverells got the tendency towards twins from their human side. The Peverell body wasn't built to accommodate two fetuses, so there was an increased risk of complications and a list of common spells used to detect those complications. Professor Snape was attempting all of those spells now for the first time.

Once all of Draco's tests came back within normal limits, Professor Snape was forced to conclude that Draco was sufficiently recovered and that both embryos were out of danger. "It appears that your body has healed sufficiently Mr. Malfoy, but I still recommend that you not overdo it," Professor Snape said, before giving Draco some healthy eating tips for the pregnancy.

Draco was about to leave, but then he remembered that detention Professor Slughorn had given him. "Sir, Professor Slughorn gave me detention on Monday. He said I'm to scrub cauldrons next week."

"No, you shouldn't be doing any physical labor. I'll talk to him and have him give you an assignment."

"But sir, there isn't much time left in the term and I'm still way behind in several of my classes. I don't have time for an extra assignment," Draco complained. In his experience, it never hurt to complain.

"You should have thought about that before you earned yourself a detention, Mr. Malfoy."

"But that's so not fair; it was Harry's fault Slughorn gave me detention in the first place and Harry didn't even get a detention."

"I can arrange for the both of you to get detentions then," Professor Snape offered, showing that he was drawing the line on leniency.

Draco realized that he was losing ground, so he gave up. Then he went back to the Slytherin dungeons and down to his dorm room under the Black Lake. He was hoping to find his room empty so that he could be alone to wank, but Vince and Goyle were in there having an arm wrestling match. Draco went to their loo, but found Theo in the shower. Disappointed, he gathered his toiletries and reading material, before heading out to the nearest prefect's lavatory.

The prefect's lavatory in the dungeon was empty, so Draco locked the door behind him and warded it with every spell he knew. His dick was already throbbing in anticipation and oozing out precum that was dripping down his shaft and pooling in his pants, so he didn't want to be disturbed for any reason; thus all of the precautionary wards.

Once the door was warded, Draco stripped off his clothes and set about to wank in the bath.

*censured

Draco hadn't meant to wank to images of Harry, but he did. When he was done he washed up and realized with disappointment that he was still horny. And he was pissed at himself that he had thought of Harry as he came. If he wanted Harry, he should have just gone and made Harry wank him or suck him, instead of bothering to do it himself. But he didn't want to forgive Harry yet; he was still mad at Harry and wanted to hold onto that anger.

Thus Draco washed up with conflicted emotions, before putting his pants and school robes back on. His stomach growled and he noticed that it was close to snack time and he remembered his less than sufficient lunch, so he made a detour to the kitchens to ask Dobby for a proper meal. He could've gone back to his dorm to ask, but his housemates didn't know that he was on summoning terms with one of the elves and he didn't want them to find out the reason why that was, and the kitchens were nearby, so he went in person.

Fifteen minutes later Draco had a tray laden with food and a glass of pumpkin juice. He carried his tray into the common room and found his favorite chair empty, so he sat down and began to eat. Tracey and Milli came over and Milli asked, "Why do have that giant tray of food Draco?"

"I'm hungry; I missed lunch," Draco explained, in between bites of food. He hadn't missed lunch, but he had rushed it and his friends weren't likely to notice the fib.

That was apparently a good enough answer or Tracey didn't care either way, because she launched into the latest house gossip, so Draco listened as he ate. There was a scandal regarding Urquhart, a seventh year Slytherin, being caught in bed with Shafiq, a female seventh year Slytherin. Vaisey, a fourth year Slytherin, was seen snogging a Hufflepuff yesterday, when just last week he was snogging a Ravenclaw.

Then Milli told Draco that Pansy was planning on accidentally hitting Harry with an engorgio in charms class tomorrow, because they were studying engorgement charms and she suspected she might be able to get away with it. It might be good for a laugh, but Draco wasn't taking charms this year, so he would have to talk to Pansy during dinner about switching to a prank he would be able to witness and could take part in. He thought the engorgio would probably be harmless, but he wanted to make sure he was part of the plan and there to hold Pansy back from doing something too extreme.

That was all the gossip Milli and Tracey could think of at the moment, so the three of them progressed to doing homework. Then dinner came and Draco talked Pansy into pranking Harry in defense on Thursday instead of Charms tomorrow. Their new plan involved the bubotuber pus, again, which Draco instructed Pansy to acquire. He thought the prank would be funny and harmless if they carried through with it, but Pansy was pants at herbology, so he didn't think it was very likely that she would be able to get any bubotuber pus.

Only once during dinner did Draco spare a glance to the Gryffindor table to see what Harry was doing. He noted with a flash of anger that Weasley was sitting next to Harry and talking to Harry. Only two things stopped him from marching over there and unleashing his fury; first he didn't want to cause a scene and explain to everyone why he was mad at Harry for being friends with Weasley, and two, Harry didn't appear to be happy. Harry definitely wasn't enjoying sitting there and talking to Weasley.

Pansy was talking to Theo, Daphne, Vince, Blaise, and Greg now about their plan to prank Harry in defense class. "Theo and I can get the bubotuber pus from the greenhouse when we go back to check up on our herbology project," Daphne offered.

Then Tracey, Sophie, and Milli joined the conversation too and Draco mimed the splatting of a pus filled balloon on Harry's face. Everyone laughed and Tracey, Sophie, and Milli agreed to help, meaning that all of the kids in their year wanted in on this prank. Theo suggested they retire to their common room to plan in secret, so the gang got up in mass and left the Great Hall. Draco was in the middle of them wondering how this had happened and what he could do to stem the tide…he at least had the ability to veto all of their dangerous suggestions and keep the prank to a simple exposure to the irritating pus.

It was late before the scheming group broke apart and Draco went to bed. He considered making a detour to the lavatory to wank again, because he was still horny. But he couldn't stop thinking about Harry and he didn't want to wank to images of Harry again. He would have to get some time alone to think about the situation tomorrow. Maybe he'd go to the room of requirement and ask for some better wanking material.

* * *

Author's Note: One of the reviewers mentioned that this story had too many sex scenes, so I took the wank scene out of this chapter. But then while I was revising it, another reviewer requested more sex scenes, so I put it back in. What do you think?


	48. Chapter 48

Author's Note: The version of this chapter on this site is slightly different on this site to reflect the differencing in the first chapter on this site. If you read the originally, more explicit rape scene, it would make more sense for you to read the corresponding version of this chapter on AO3. If you read the toned down and censored version on this site, then carry on.

* * *

Wednesday passed without much interest for Harry. He went through the motions of his day with Hermione keeping him on task and Ron keeping up a cheerful banter with her that allowed Harry to phone it in, so to speak. Harry tried not to think too much about Draco, because it was the only way he could function. Draco hadn't said a word to him in almost two days and he couldn't take the wait and anxiety anymore. When would Draco contact him to talk again? He wanted to give Draco space, but he had thought Draco would signal him by now or owl him or look his way or _something_. Harry would have settled for _anything_ as a sign.

Harry wanted to break down and signal Draco, asking for a meeting, but he stopped himself each time he reached for his wand. The urge to keep their charmed coins constantly in the palm of his left hand, so that he wouldn't miss it when Draco did signal him, was too strong, so the coins were always right there in his hand as he went through his day. Each time he went to activate the coins, he stopped himself, knowing that it was too soon to contact Draco; he would give Draco more time to contact him. He wasn't going to push his presence off on Draco. He wanted Draco to decide on his own to keep Harry in his life. He didn't know how long that would take, but Harry thought he ought to wait a little longer and at least give Draco the chance to initiate contact.

And so after classes were out for the day Harry sat with Ron and Hermione in the common room staring at a transfigurations essay he was supposed to be writing, while he thought about Draco. He stared at his essay until dinner time and would've kept staring at it indefinitely if Ron and Hermione hadn't interfered. His appetite still wasn't back, so he didn't want to go down to the Great Hall for dinner, but Hermione and Ron dragged him down anyway and forced him to eat.

Harry was still picking at his roast pork when Professor Snape came up to him, handed him a letter, and said, "Your presence is being requested."

"Thank you sir," Harry replied, taking the parchment and unrolling it.

The note didn't say much, just to meet in Dumbledore's office after dinner. Harry didn't know if this meeting had something to do with Draco and the baby or if it would be about Voldemort and horcruxes. He showed the note to Hermione who passed it to Ron, before passing it back. Hermione and Ron started with their encouraging chatter and Harry absentmindedly pushed green beans around on his plate, even though everyone else had now moved to dessert; Ron, at least, was on his third pudding.

The Great Hall was almost empty when Hermione nudged Harry and said, "Well you better get off to your meeting. I'll be waiting in the common room for the news."

"Good luck mate," Ron added. "I have to run off to detention with McGonagall now." When Snape wasn't available for occlumency detentions, Ron was passed around to the various teachers who were free to give him whichever punishment they felt like for the night. Professor McGonagall had informed Ron this morning that she would have him for the evening.

"Yeah, see you," Harry replied and went off to the stone gargoyle on the third floor.

Harry was about to start guessing passwords when Draco and Professor Snape arrived. "Pulsating peppermint pudding," Professor Snape announced austerely and the gargoyle stepped aside to grant them entrance.

The three of them rode the rotating staircase in silence up to the headmaster's office. Harry kept looking at Draco, trying to sniff out any clues as to the nature of the meeting. Draco appeared to be fine. Draco wasn't hurt or in pain, so he concluded that the babies were fine and that this meeting must be for some other Draco related reason. Draco spent the ride up studiously looking at his shoes and blushing in apparent embarrassment and Harry wondered why that was. Were they here to discuss something personal? Had Draco been reprimanded?

It wasn't until Harry followed Professor Snape and Draco into Dumbledore's office and saw Professor Dumbledore and his attorney, Mr. Binns, waiting for him that he guessed that this was about Snape's request for a confession.

"Harry, Draco, I had hoped to meet under less austere circumstances, but Professor Snape has informed me that the two of you wish to record the events of a crime committed by Harry James Potter against Draco Lucius Malfoy. Is this correct?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

"It is," Draco answered, still looking at his feet. Harry looked too and although Draco was wearing expensive looking black leather loafers, Harry didn't see anything particularly interesting about them.

"Mr. Binns, Harry's attorney has agreed to draft a confession detailing the crime and he and I will sign as witnesses along with Professor Snape," the headmaster said. "Harry, do you understand?"

"Yes sir," Harry answered.

"Draco, do you understand?" Professor Dumbledore asked kindly.

Draco didn't reply, except for to nod his head while he continued to stare at the ground.

"Draco, I had hoped you would come to speak to me about this incident months ago," Professor Dumbledore said. "I came to your hospital room after it happened and you refused to tell me any of the details and I had no idea that there was a rape involved. I sent you multiple requests to speak with me both after the initial incident and after I learned about the rape. I must say, before we proceed, that I am concerned about you and wish you would speak with me about it, alone, without the others. And if that is not possible, then perhaps just with Professor Snape present?"

Draco didn't want to talk to Dumbledore. He had been ordered to kill Dumbledore and the last thing he wanted to do was to be in a room alone with him; having the perfect chance to kill him and not taking it seemed to be an even worse form of treason again the Dark Lord than simply failing to complete his task. Thus he continued concentrating on the floor and shook his head.

"Very well. I will ask Mr. Potter to wait outside while Mr. Malfoy recounts the events of the crime, so that Mr. Binns can transcribe them. When Mr. Malfoy is finished, Mr. Potter will be asked to come back inside to read over the accusations while Mr. Malfoy waits outside. If there is a disagreement, I will call both parties in to discuss it civilly. Otherwise, we all sign and bear witness to the confession," Professor Dumbledore said.

"Sir? I thought I would go first. I'm confessing, aren't I?" Harry asked. By this time he was fairly certain either that Draco didn't want to talk about the rape or that Draco didn't want to talk to the headmaster; he thought he could make it easier by doing the talking for Draco.

"You will be given the opportunity to confess, but first we need to hear the details of the crime and the only one who has remained mute on the subject is Mr. Malfoy," Professor Dumbledore explained.

"Okay. It'll be okay Draco. I'm just gonna be right outside," Harry said. Draco nodded, so Harry left. He went down the rotating staircase and took a seat on the floor next to the gargoyle and waited.

"Take a seat, Mr. Malfoy," Professor Snape said, pulling out one of the chairs in front of the headmaster's desk. He had observed the anxious state of his student and knowing that Draco was pregnant, he thought it was best to get Draco sitting.

Draco sat.

"As Mr. Potter's attorney, this matter has my full confidentiality, Mr. Malfoy," Mr. Binns said before taking a seat in the other chair.

Draco nodded again and Professor Snape stood behind Draco and put his hand comfortingly on Draco's shoulder. Draco looked up and gave Professor Snape a small smile, to let him know that he appreciated the gesture. Professor Snape wasn't a touchy-feely person, so a hand on the shoulder was a big deal from him.

The headmaster waited until he heard the click of the gargoyle at the bottom of the stairs, signaling that Harry was no longer present, then he said, "Draco, please tell us, in your own words, what happened that day in the bathroom."

Draco didn't want to do this, but he had given it a lot of thought and knew that he had to do it. He must have gone over the words he would say in his head a hundred times last night. He tried to make it short and to the point to get it over with.

"I was crying in the bathroom. I didn't hear Harry come in. I went to wash my face and saw him in the mirror. I turned around. He stepped closer to me. He put his hand on my cheek and brushed my tears away. He kissed me. I let him. He snogged me. He asked me, 'Do you want this?' I thought he meant the snogging we were doing. I hoped he might want to wank me. I said, 'Y-'" Draco broke off at this point. Tears were streaming down his face, no matter how many times he told himself he wasn't going to cry in front of the headmaster. He needed a minute to compose himself before he could continue.

"Take your time Mr. Malfoy," Professor Snape said kindly.

"No one in here blames you for what happened, Draco. Just because you agreed up to a certain point does not mean you agreed to be raped," Professor Dumbledore said.

Draco wanted to read a negative connotation into Dumbledore's words. He wanted to hate the headmaster. But instead he found himself feeling relieved by those words, so he continued. "I said, 'Yes.' He pulled up my robes and removed my pants. My knees gave out. He caught me. He picked me up and set me on the sink. I was dizzy and light-headed. I rested my head on his shoulder. It hurt and then I passed out. When I woke up, Harry was done. There was a burning pain, so I knew he'd been in me. I didn't know how long I was out for, but I thought he'd waited until he was finished to revive me." He stopped here as he considered whether he should include what he later learned; that Harry had cum almost instantly and that Draco had only been out for a short time.

"After you regained consciousness, what happened?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

"I tried to push him away. He pulled me back. I struggled and pushed again. We both fell. I hit my head. My arse hurt. Eventually I crawled to my wand and tried to curse him. It didn't take, but it started the duel that led to him hitting me with the sectumsempra curse that nearly killed me," Draco finished.

"Draco, do you think the entire rape, from the time he entered you to the time he came, lasted less than five minutes or more than five minutes?" Professor Dumbledore asked, remembering what Harry had said last month about premature ejaculation during his version of events.

"Less. I saw it through his eyes, with legilimency, and he came almost immediately. He enervated me as soon as he realized I had passed out. I was passed out for a bit before he realized it, but it was over quickly," Draco answered.

"Did Mr. Potter hurt you in any way other than the violation and sectumsempra?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

"I hurt my head when I fell, if that's what you mean?" Draco asked.

"No, I meant as in torture."

"Oh, no. No, he didn't."

Severus was stunned into silence after hearing the actual details of the event. All of this time he had been thinking that Harry was the reincarnation of James, only worse, but now he was realizing that Harry might have been telling the truth about not meaning to do it; it didn't mean Harry was innocent or that is wasn't Harry's fault, but that the crime and guilt were less. Draco hadn't described any of the gore and horror that Severus had been imagining and now it was starting to make sense how a victim of such a crime could forgive his attacker. Severus still wasn't a proponent of the marriage, but maybe he would stop trying to come up with ways to make Draco see how awful Harry was.

"Did he force you to stay there, by restraining or threatening you in anyway?" Dumbledore asked.

"He held me there. When I woke up, I tried to push him off of me, but his arms wouldn't let me go."

"Did you get pregnant during the course of this incident?"

"Yes."

"What is your intention to do with this child?"

"Children. There are two," Draco corrected.

"I was not informed that you were having twins. Congratulations Mr. Malfoy. Now do you plan to keep these children?"

"Yes. I want them to be the next Malfoy heirs. They're mine," Draco said. He had begun to accept a limited involvement from Harry, but he thought of the babies as his more than Harry's. He had always wanted children and a tentative connection to Harry wasn't enough to make him want to give these babies up before and now he was starting to like the idea that the babies would have a little bit of Harry in them.

"And Harry? Do you intend to have him involved in the lives of your children?"

"Yes. He's been nice to me. Unless he hurts me again or hurts my children, I'll let him be involved."

"Do you intend to marry Harry?"

"Yes, to legitimize my sons," Draco explained.

"Very good. Thank you for your candor Mr. Malfoy. I am sorry that this happened to you under my watch. I want you to know that neither I nor Professor Snape feels that this incident is in anyway your fault and I hope that you will come to one of us right away if something this serious should happen again." He waited for a response, so Draco nodded to show he had understood. "Now from your description of the events, it sounds like this was a case of non-consent. That is when one person did not consent to the sex, but was not violently forced into it. It is against school rules and is grounds for possible expulsion, but one instance is not enough to earn a sentence in Azkaban. Typically the offender receives a warning not to do it again and only repeat offenders get time in Azkaban."

Draco sighed in relief when he learned that he hadn't actually been raped. He'd been thinking it all of this time and to learn that Harry's crime was actually a lesser offense felt like a little bit of the weight was off of his shoulders; he wasn't marrying a rapist and he wasn't pregnant by one either. "I don't want him to go to Azkaban," Draco admitted.

"Very good. We'll keep this report sealed and no one will find out unless it happens again," Dumbledore replied.

"What about the babies?" Draco asked worriedly, suddenly remembering the reason he had agreed to this confession thing in the first place.

"What about them?" Dumbledore asked curiously.

Draco gulped and then answered, "Will Harry be able to take them away from me, if he wants to?" One of his biggest fears was that Harry would turn against him and convince the courts to take his babies away.

"The courts typically recognize the right of the mother, or your case, the birth father, to have primary custody of the children. So even if this had not happened, Harry would only be able to take them from you if you were proven to be unfit," Dumbledore answered.

"But he might say that I'm unfit because I'm a Death Eater and all my family are Death Eaters. Professor Snape said Harry wouldn't be able to take the babies away from me, because it was rape," Draco protested.

"Are you a Death Eater Mr. Malfoy?" Professor Dumbledore asked, having caught the slip of tongue Draco made.

Draco turned red as he realized what he had said. He looked down and then away and then finally back at Professor Snape as he tried to think of a response to that.

"What Mr. Malfoy is trying to say is that he will be accused of being a Death Eater, because his father is one," Professor Snape interjected.

Professor Dumbledore knew the truth already; he knew that Draco had taken the mark, but didn't want to go through with it. He knew that now was the perfect time for an intervention and that he could possibly save this youth from sacrificing his life to serve Voldemort. He was fairly certain that Draco had already turned away from Voldemort, but being pregnant by Harry put Draco in a dangerous and precarious position and he wanted to make sure Draco knew where Dumbledore stood on the issue. Thus Dumbledore pierced Draco with his blue eyes and said, "I hope you do not betray those unborn babies of yours by giving them or Harry over to Voldemort. There is no doubt in my mind that Voldemort will kill all of you just because of your link to Harry. The three of you will be much safer in our protection and we will be able to keep you and the babies safe from Voldemort."

Draco blanched in shock at the accusation that he would ever even think about turning his babies over to Voldemort. "I wouldn't do that! I'd never hurt my babies," Draco protested indignantly.

"Very good. That is what I was hoping to hear," Professor Dumbledore replied with a tight smile. He wanted to encourage Draco, but the occasion was too somber for a full smile.

"And the babies? After the war will Mr. Malfoy be in danger of losing his children to Mr. Potter should Mr. Potter accuse him of being a Death Eater?" Professor Snape asked, wanting to get the topic back on track. Draco wasn't perfect, but they were not here to pass judgment on Draco; Draco was still the victim and he didn't want to make this any harder for Draco than it already was.

"No. With a case of non-consent, Mr. Potter will have more rights to the children than with a rape case, but he will not be able to remove the children from Mr. Malfoy's care unless Mr. Malfoy were to lose custody and the children were wards of the state," Professor Dumbledore answered.

"Wards of the state? How would they be wards of the state?" Draco asked confused.

"Well if you were to be hospitalized for a long time and unable to care for them, or if you went to Azkaban, or if you were found to be abusing the children in some way. Other than that, Mr. Potter would not be granted custody over you," the headmaster answered.

"And what sorts of rights does Mr. Potter have to the children?" Professor Snape asked.

"He has the right to regular visitations. He also has some say in schooling, health care, and the typical parenting decisions," Professor Dumbledore answered.

"Like fifty-fifty?" Draco asked.

"Or less. You could over-rule him, but if you blatantly oppose all of his wishes, he could take you to court," Professor Dumbledore answered.

Draco thought about it for a minute and it seemed reasonable, so he said, "I can live with that."

"Good. I just have one more question that I would like you to answer, but you do not have to, if you do not want to," the headmaster said.

"Okay."

"It seems to me that you and Harry have had a fallen out as of late. What, if I might ask, is that about and how serious do you feel it is?"

"I found out that it's twins, not just one baby. I'm mad at him for making two babies. It's not serious.

"I'm glad to hear it. Mr. Binns, do you have any questions?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, just a few. At any point in time before Mr. Potter entered you, did you give him permission to have sex with you?" Mr. Binns asked.

"No," Draco answered.

"Did you engage in any kissing or sexual activity before the day in question?" Mr. Binns asked.

"No."

"Is there any reason you can think of why Mr. Potter might have thought that you were agreeable to a sexual encounter?" Mr. Binns asked.

"We were snogging and he asked me if it was alright. I should've said no and ran, but I didn't know that that was what he was planning," Draco answered.

"Thank you. I think you're a very brave young man and I'll write this up for you to read through and sign," Mr. Binns said.

"Is that all?" Draco asked, turning around to look at Professor Snape.

"Yes, we can go to the defense classroom and wait while they write it up. Professor Dumbledore will send for us when they are ready for us again," Professor Snape replied.

Draco nodded.

Professor Snape and Draco left then. Draco saw Harry sitting on the floor at the bottom of the stairs.

Harry jumped up when he saw Draco and asked, "How was it? Are you okay Draco?"

"I'm fine," Draco answered. He wanted to insert himself into Harry's arms and let Harry comfort him, but Professor Snape was there and he knew he was supposed to leave with Professor Snape, not wait out here and talk to Harry.

"Mr. Potter, you are to wait here until they call you in. Mr. Malfoy must go with me now," Professor Snape said.

"Yeah, alright. See you Draco," Harry said. Draco waved and Harry watched him go, before sitting down and resuming his wait.

Draco followed Professor Snape to the defense classroom and he took a seat at one of the benches.

"You did very well tonight Draco. I know that that was very hard for you, but I also think you will be better off for having done it," Professor Snape said. Even if Harry wasn't the monster he had thought, Draco would still be in a better position to maintain custody of his children with this signed confession.

Draco nodded. He didn't really feel like talking right now and he couldn't think of anything to say in response.

"I spoke with your mother earlier today. She is getting along well at the villa and she would like you to stop by and visit her there this weekend. You may still visit her anytime you wish via my floo connection. I will give you the secret," Professor Snape said, referring to the fact that he was the secret keeper for the villa in France.

"Yeah, okay," Draco replied.

Professor Snape wrote down the address of the villa on a slip of parchment and handed it to Draco. Draco read it and then tore the parchment into shreds and cast an incendio on them.

"May I work on my homework, sir?" Draco asked.

"Do as you wish," Professor Snape replied.

Meanwhile, Harry was still sitting by the Gargoyle statue and waiting. Seamus and Dean happened to walk by and Seamus asked, "Wha' are yer doin' sittin' on the floor for Harry?"

"I'm in trouble with the headmaster again. I'm waiting to hear what my punishment will be, if any," Harry answered.

"What did you do?" Dean asked.

"Oh it's just Snape on about almost killing Malfoy again. I suspect Dumbledore will refuse to expel me and say I served my time, like he did the last time Snape did this," Harry replied. He was getting good at lying and found it increasingly easy to do.

"Yeah, okay. We'll see yer in the common room then," Seamus said.

"Seeya," Dean said, before walking off with Seamus and leaving Harry alone in the corridor again.

Harry waited for forty-five minutes after Draco and Snape left before the Gargoyle stepped aside and Dumbledore called out, "You can come on up now Harry."

Once more Harry rode the moving staircase to the top and entered Professor Dumbledore's office. "Have a seat Harry," Professor Dumbledore said, indicating the empty chair in front of his desk. There was another chair in front of the desk and Mr. Binns was sitting in it.

Harry sat down and waited.

"Mr. Potter, when I first met you when you came to my office last month I had no idea of the full circumstances behind your relationship with Mr. Malfoy. If I had, I would not have agreed to represent you in your desire to court Mr. Malfoy. Frankly I'm appalled and disgusted by what I've heard here tonight," Mr. Binns said.

"Yes sir," Harry replied, agreeing with his lawyer, because he was disgusted with himself.

"Do Mr. Malfoy's parents know of this?" Mr. Binns asked.

"No. Draco says I can't tell anyone."

"Because I have already agreed to represent you, I will maintain my confidentiality, but please do not come to me with anymore confessions of this type."

"Alright."

"Good. I have finished writing out my report based on Mr. Malfoy's testimony. Please read it and let me know where your statement of the facts varies from his," Mr. Binns said, handing over the parchment.

Harry read the parchment. It sounded a bit cold and detached; it had none of the feeling that he and Draco had felt during that encounter, neither the good nor the bad of it. When Harry finished reading it, he looked up and said, "Um, it seems accurate, but I'd like to add some details, especially to the part where he was passed out."

"Alright, go ahead," Professor Dumbledore said.

"Well first off, Draco never actually said yes, he nodded and I took it as a yes," Harry explained.

"Alright, that's not a major contradiction," Mr. Binns replied.

"And I realized he passed out when his head slipped off of my shoulder. I stopped immediately and tried to get a response from him and only then did I realize he had passed out. I tried to wake him up by pouring water onto him and when that didn't work, I enervated him. He pushed me away, that's true, but I wasn't trying to restrain him to keep him there; I was trying to keep him from falling and that just happened to involve holding onto him," Harry said.

"Is that all Mr. Potter?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

"Yes," Harry replied.

"Why are you confessing to this tonight? It's been over a month since this happened," Professor Dumbledore said.

"I wanted to confess to the rape before, but Draco forbade it. I think he's embarrassed that he was raped, because he told me I couldn't tell anyone. Professor Snape talked him into this and Draco asked me, so I agreed," Harry explained.

"Harry, I have expressed my disapproval of your actions before and that still stands, but this is not a case of rape, my dear boy," the headmaster said.

"It's not?" Harry asked surprised. By now he was thoroughly convinced that he had horribly raped Draco.

"No, it's a case of non-consent. Non-consent is where one person does not consent, but the other person doesn't behave violently or physically force the victim into having sex. It's still against the law, but it is a much lesser offense. I believe what you told me last time you were in here; when you told me it was an accident. You didn't mean to violate Mr. Malfoy, but you did and you're stepping up and taking responsibility for your actions. For that I am proud of you, but also you need to understand that there are consequences for your actions. This is your first offense, so I will let you off with a warning, but the next offense will result in expulsion and possibly time in Azkaban. From now on, and I cannot stress this enough, you need to make sure you have proper consent _every_ time you engage in sexual activity," Professor Dumbledore said.

"Yes sir." Harry was still thinking about the fact that Dumbledore didn't consider him a rapist. He wondered to himself, 'Is there a term for someone who commits an act of non-consent? Maybe I'm a non-consenter.'

"I think you should consider yourself very lucky that Mr. Malfoy isn't pressing charges and he seems willing to include you in the lives of the two innocent children that you created that day. Those children did not ask to be created or put in the middle of this, but they are in the middle of it. I hope that you will be mature enough to put them first, above your own needs. And I hope to never hear that you have harmed Mr. Malfoy or those children ever again," Professor Dumbledore continued. Harry wouldn't get more than a slap on the wrists in the courts, but if this had happened back when Lucius was at the peak of his influence, Harry would be in a lot more trouble.

"Yes, I know I was wrong and that I'm lucky to have Draco. I won't hurt him and as soon as I kill Voldemort, taking care of Draco and the babies will be my number one priority," Harry insisted.

Mr. Binns looked up from his writing and waited for a lull in the conversation. "Alright, I've added Mr. Potter's response onto the end. Do you just want to read through it and double check it?" Mr. Binns asked, passing the parchment scroll back to Harry.

Harry read it and everything was just as he told Mr. Binns, so he said, "Yeah, it's good."

"Great. Then it's ready for the signatures. Sign and print your name at the bottom and then Professor Dumbledore and I will sign it as witnesses," Mr. Binns replied.

Harry did just that before handing the parchment back to Mr. Binns, who signed it and passed it to Professor Dumbledore, who also signed.

"You may go now Harry. Can I ask you to nip down to the defense against the dark arts classroom and ask Professor Snape and Mr. Malfoy to return?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

Harry smiled, realizing that he would get another chance to see Draco this night. "Yes sir," Harry answered. "Thank you sir. And thank you, Mr. Binns, for helping me with this."

Harry left then to go find Draco in the defense against the dark arts classroom. "Professor Dumbledore and Mr. Binns are ready for you Draco," Harry said, walking up to Draco but stopping to the side of the desk Draco was seated at.

"Thank you Mr. Potter," Professor Snape said from his desk. He shuffled his papers, before standing up to go.

"Did you do it?" Draco asked, looking up into Harry's eyes.

Draco was looking up at him with such wide innocent grey eyes that Harry couldn't resist taking him into his arms and engulfing him in a hug. "Yeah, I did," Harry answered.

"Thank you," Draco replied.

"Draco?" Harry asked tentatively, hoping that he wasn't rushing Draco.

"Yeah?"

"Can I see you again soon?"

"Yeah. We can talk this weekend," Draco answered, pulling back from the hug. He wanted Harry to suffer a little bit longer, but he didn't want to leave him without hope.

Harry let Draco go. "Saturday then," Draco said, standing up and taking a step backwards, away from Harry.

"Yeah, Saturday. I'll be waiting," Harry said.

Draco turned and walked to the other walkway, but only got halfway down the aisle before he remembered something else he wanted to tell Harry and turned around, but didn't walk back. "Oh and Harry?" Draco asked.

"Yeah Draco?"

"I'm gonna hit you with a balloon full of milk. Do pretend it's bubotuber pus and that it burns. Otherwise I'll have to use the real stuff next time," Draco warned.

"What?" Harry asked confused. He heard the warning, but it just came so far out of left field that he didn't know what to make of it.

"It's just a prank Potter, keep up, will you?"

"So you're gonna hit me with milk, but I'm to pretend it's burning?" Harry asked, to make sure he had gotten it right.

"Yeah, that's it," Draco replied, before turning back around and continuing to walk away from Harry. Professor Snape was standing by the door waiting for him and didn't make any indication that he overheard the conversation; Draco waved at Harry and ducked his head, before exiting the classroom. Professor Snape followed him and the two of them walked back to the headmaster's office.

Once in the hallway, Professor Snape said, "I hope that I do not have to intercede on your behalf regarding a detention with another teacher again."

"No sir, it'll happen in your class," Draco replied.

"Very well, but I will pretend not to have any knowledge of this, of course," Professor Snape said as they approached the stone gargoyle to go up to the headmaster's office.

Mr. Binns showed Draco the document that he had produced that Harry had signed. Draco read it and everything seemed to be correct, so he signed it. Then Professor Snape read and signed the document. Mr. Binns put the document in an envelope and magically sealed it so that only Draco could open it. Mr. Binns handed the envelope to Draco and then reiterated that this meeting would be kept confidential. Finally, Mr. Binns expressed his sympathies and Professor Dumbledore asked Draco to come by anytime he wanted to talk about anything, but Draco refused and asked to leave.

Finally the ordeal was over and Draco went back to the dungeons, stopping at the kitchens on the way for a snack. While he was in the kitchens, he asked for a flask of spoilt milk, which he carefully slipped into his robes. Pansy, Daphne, Theo, and Vince were all huddled in a corner of the common room when he got there. They were going over the plans for the prank on Harry tomorrow morning. Daphne and Theo had obtained the bubotuber pus and Pansy and Vince had inserted it into a thin rubber sack. Now all they had to do was smack Harry in the head with it tomorrow and Harry would be covered in painful blisters.

Draco inserted himself into the group and agreed to do the dirty work of actually hitting Harry, because he was the one with immunity against Harry. They handed over the bubotuber pus to him, which he also tucked away inside his robes. He went up to the loo and in a private stall he banished the bubotuber pus from the rubber sack and replaced it with the spoilt milk. He also transfigured the milk to a greenish yellow color, to more closely resemble bubotuber pus. Finally he banished the empty milk flask back to the kitchens and put the balloon on his nightstand to await the next morning.

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Author's Note: There, it's over and the boys can finally move forward. What did you think? Do you agree with Dumbledore?

Please Review!


	49. Chapter 49

Author's Note: This chapter has been censored. To read the full version, go to AO3; you can find the link on my profile page.

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The spoilt milk-filled rubber sack was kept in the pocket of Draco's school robes all through defense against the dark arts Thursday morning, while Draco waited for the perfect time to hit Harry. Professor Snape was letting him get away with this, so he wanted to disturb the class as little as possible, which meant waiting until the end. And he didn't want to splash anyone else with the spoilt milk, or it might get out that it was milk and not bubotuber pus in the sack.

Draco was worried that Professor Snape would have them practice dueling today and that the sack would leak in his robes and stink, but that fear turned out to be unwarranted, because Professor Snape stuck to lecturing. Draco found defensive theory boring and although he knew he needed it, he almost fell asleep in class half a dozen times, but he caught himself and forced his eyes to stay open. Draco watched the clock and fiddled with his quill and waited.

And then the clock indicated that there were only five minutes left in class and Professor Snape called Harry to the front of the class to help with a demonstration. Draco was sitting in the front, while Harry was in the back today, so Harry would have to walk right past Draco's desk to get to the front. Draco reached into his pocket and fingered the thin sack in anticipation of the opportune moment and then the moment was there and Harry was just steps away. He pulled the out the sack as he stood up and threw, hitting Harry square in the forehead right when Harry came level with Draco's desk.

Harry didn't know when Draco was going to prank him with the milk and certainly wasn't expecting it at this moment. Class was almost over, so maybe Draco would hit him in the hallway after class, but surely Draco wouldn't do it front of Snape! But Draco had done it right in front of Snape and Harry was spluttering as the chunky spoilt milk flowed down his face and dripped off of his chin, making little splatting noises when the drops hit the floor. It smelled atrocious and a little bit dribbled into his mouth, making him gag and spit it out, adding to the mess on the floor.

Only then, after he spat, did Harry remember that the substance was supposed to be bubotuber pus and was supposed to burn. He faked a scream and shouted frantically, "It burns! It's burning!"

Draco smiled as he saw the look of shock on Harry's face, knowing that he had managed to get Harry by surprise even though he had warned Harry that it was going to happen. When Harry spat, Draco took in a great big breath and let out an enormous laugh and the rest of the class joined him in his mirth and frivolity. The entire class broke out into very loud raucous laughter, but then Draco smelt the spoilt milk and started gagging and heaving.

Draco put both hands to his mouth and tried to stave off the heaves, but he couldn't and was soon emptying his stomach onto the floor of the defense classroom in front of half of the sixth year students and Professor Snape. As he puked, his eyes drifted over the room and he noticed that everyone was looking at him while they continued to laugh at Harry. Draco heard a few gasps as he lowered his head in embarrassment and continued to hurl.

Harry saw Draco puking right in front of him and he wanted to help him, but he didn't have any crackers in his pocket and he wasn't supposed to be seen helping Draco, plus he was supposed to be burning from the fake pus. Harry scratched at his face with his left hand, raking his nails down his face to redden the skin and make the ruse more convincing, while he grabbed his wand with the other hand and vanished the milk, vomit, and spit from the floor and from his face. Even if he couldn't go to Draco's aid, he could at least remove the source of the problem.

Professor Snape stood in the front of the room as he saw the scene unfold. He called Harry to the front of the room to give Draco the chance to play his prank at a time that was convenient for him and it had worked. Professor Snape determined to stand back and out of the way until the scene played out and that plan worked at first, but then Draco started vomiting. This was bound to happen sooner or later, so Professor Snape had previously looked up the recommended treatments for morning sick and he put that knowledge to use now.

Professor Snape went to his desk and removed a potion for morning sickness and transfigured his coffee cup into a basin to catch the flow of vomit. Professor Snape rushed to Draco's side just as Harry vanished the mess and Professor Snape shoved the basin under Draco's mouth. Draco was relieved help was finally here, so he quickly grabbed onto the basin and held it for Professor Snape as he hurled. Draco made eye contact with Professor Snape as the Professor brought forward the potion vial. Professor Snape gently reached out for Draco's head and guided it backwards as he pressed the potion to Draco's lips.

"Drink it Mr. Malfoy," Professor Snape instructed. "It'll stop the vomiting."

Draco let go of the basin with his right hand, so that he could bring the hand up to join Professor Snape's hands on the potion vial as he opened his mouth. He swallowed it down quickly, trying to hold back another violent lurch of his stomach. Some of the potion dribbled out the side of his mouth with the heave, but he swallowed again and the rest went down, calming his stomach immediately.

Professor Snape took the vial back with his left hand and pulled out his wand to perform a cleaning spell on Draco with the other, to remove the potion that didn't make it down, as well as the vomit splatters that Harry had missed. "Are you feeling better Mr. Malfoy?" Professor Snape asked.

Draco nodded, not quiet recovered enough to speak, and sat back down in his seat. He noticed then that the laughing had quieted down and was replaced by the loud insistent chatter of the other students. Harry was still standing in front of him, watching him and although Harry had red scratch marks on his cheeks, he had apparently forgotten to continue screaming.

"Harry, we have to get you to the hospital wing. I think that was bubotuber pus you got hit with!" Hermione said, jumping to the rescue. Harry had told her the night before of Draco's warning and now that Harry seemed to be more interested in Draco than his own fake injury, she stepped in to get this fight back on track.

"Yes, Ms. Granger, please take Mr. Potter to the hospital wing," Professor Snape replied.

"Come on Harry," Hermione said, stepping forward and taking Harry's hand to pull him along and out of class. She had her backpack on one shoulder and Harry's backpack on the other and as they walked out of class, she handed Harry's backpack over to him.

"Class dismissed, move along everyone," Professor Snape called and the students started filing out, but many lingered to watch.

"Professor Snape, aren't you gonna give Malfoy detention for hitting Harry with that pus?" Ron asked. If Harry asked, Ron would say he did it to keep up the ruse of the fight and detract attention from Draco's vomiting, but secretly, he wanted to get Draco in trouble just as much.

"I will deal with Mr. Malfoy as I see fit Mr. Weasley. I suggest you move along," Professor Snape said, before turning back to Draco.

"Do you think you can go to your next class now Mr. Malfoy?" Professor Snape asked.

"Yes sir," Draco replied, stuffing his school things into his school bag.

"You will have one night's detention for disturbing my class with your childish pranks. I will let you know when you are to serve it," Professor Snape said.

"Yes sir," Draco replied. "Can I go now? I'm gonna be late to class," Draco replied.

"Yes, please go and take the rest of these looky-loos with you so that my next class may come in," Professor Snape replied. At least half of the looky-loos were Slytherins who were certain to follow Draco out the door. "And happy birthday Mr. Malfoy."

"Thank you sir," Draco replied and quickly exited the room. Greg, Vince, Pansy, Theo, and Blaise were all waiting for him silently at the back of the room and they went out ahead of Draco.

"What happened?" Greg asked as Draco exited the classroom; Greg sounded concerned.

"Yes Draco, do explain why you started vomiting when it was Potter that was hit with the bubotuber pus," Pansy demanded.

"And bubotuber pus doesn't even cause vomiting," Blaise added.

"Well it's disgusting, isn't it? It was dripping down Potter's face right in front on me," Draco defended himself and he guided his friends along to Ancient Runes with him. Some of them had a free period instead of the class, but if they wanted to talk to him, they had to walk with him.

"It was rather gross. It looked all lumpy," Crabbe said. Crabbe and Goyle had been closest to Draco during the incident, so they had the best view.

"Plus, it smelled like petrol. I've always hated the smell of petrol," Draco lied.

"Since when? You were fine in herbology two years ago when we first extracted bubotuber pus," Pansy retorted.

"Since last summer. My crazy Aunt Bellatrix stayed a good part of the vacation with mother and me and she smelled of petrol from all her time in Azkaban. I suspect it had to do with all of those years of poor hygiene that prison life instilled in her," Draco lied. His aunt hadn't smelled, but she was crazy enough that people would believe anything of her.

"Cousin Rodolphus and his wife stayed with my family for a bit and they didn't smell," Pansy objected, but they were already outside the ancient runes classroom and Draco, Greg, and Theo were already going inside to take their seats next to Millicent and Tracey. And since Pansy wasn't in this class, she was forced to stalk off back to the dungeons with Vince and Blaise, despite her personal knowledge of the Lestranges, thanks to her mother being first cousins with Rodolphus; sure they were psychotic, but they didn't smell.

Despite throwing up minutes before class and not having a chance to eat his usual snack, Draco felt fine during ancient runes, thanks to the potion Professor Snape had given him. Afterwards he went to lunch and every time someone brought up his puking, he switched the subject to the look on Harry's face when he got hit and speculation over how badly Harry was hurt. Harry wasn't present over at the Gryffindor table, so Draco played it up, insisting that Harry must still be in the hospital wing, being treated for his injuries. Draco figured that Harry was just skiving off lunch in favor of raiding the kitchens, but Draco still used it to his advantage.

After lunch Draco shook off Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle in favor of going to the room of requirement. Pansy protested saying, "But Draco, I wanted to speak with you about something."

"Sorry, I've got to work on my Death Eating project or the Dark Lord will have my head," Draco lied, before continuing on without his friends. Mentioning his involvement with the Dark Lord was normally enough to get his fellow Slytherins off his back about anything, because they all understood how critical it was to please the Dark Lord.

Draco was somewhat concerned with being caught in the room by Harry, which is why he chose to go now, while Harry was in herbology class; it was the only free period Draco had that Harry didn't. He opened the door and found the room how it had been before the near miscarriage. The hut was smaller again, clearly indicating that the dragon and flower bedrooms were gone. Draco wondered if the study was also gone and hoped that the nursery was as they had left it, so he went inside the hut to check.

Draco was relieved to see that the nursery was still there and the study had returned to its original size, now that the second hallway was gone. But he didn't want to study or play in the nursery, so he put his school bag down and went into the beach bedroom. This room held a lot of memories of Harry, which he tried to block out, because he was determined not to think about Harry when he did what he needed to do.

Draco needed to wank. It had been two days since his last wank, which hadn't left him fully satisfied. The need was once more causing a persistent ache. He wasted no time in stripping off his clothing and freeing his erection, before scooting back on the bed to get comfortable. Now he just needed some material to keep him focused and not thinking about Harry.

*Censored

Draco required the room to provide him with some pornographic material for his wank and it did. It featured a large overly muscled man with an average sized dick, and a second smaller man with a small dick and almost feminine features. Draco preferred the chest on the smaller man, because it looked flatter and less voluptuous than the chest of the muscular man, but he didn't like the girly looking face of the smaller man or the tiny dick.

Draco watched the porn, but kept thinking of Harry. At one point he closed his eyes and thought only of Harry as he wanked. Draco thought that Harry would look hotter being buggered like that than the guy in the porn looked. For one thing, Harry had a bit of hair on him and that made him look more manly and real, while the porno man was completely hairless and looked more boyish because of it. Draco came fantasizing about buggering Harry. When he was done, he laid back and closed his eyes and he enjoyed the sensation of being completely sated for the first time in three weeks.

Sleep came quickly to Draco and he woke up in the afternoon covered in dried cum, which he found highly disgusting and it made him wish for Harry, who cleaned such messes up before Draco could be bothered by them. As it was, Harry wasn't there, so Draco had to go into the bath to clean up. Harry also wasn't there to rub Draco's back for him and hadn't been all week, so he took the opportunity to lie back in the hot water and relax in the giant tub. As he did so, he thought about how he had once again failed to not think about Harry during his wank. Eventually he concluded that it was time he forgave Harry and let Harry wank him again. He was still annoyed at Harry, but he didn't want to punish himself while he was punishing Harry.

When he finished his bath he raided the icebox and found strawberries and carrot sticks for his snack. He ate and then went to the study to work of his history of magic project.

While Draco was in the study, Dobby appeared with a large package and said, "Dobby is to be giving Draco Malfoy, sir, this present sir, from Narcissa Malfoy, mam."

"Alright, give it here and you can go," Draco replied, taking the present from the elf.

Dobby left and Draco opened the birthday card that was on the top of the present. In the card his mother wished him a happy seventeenth birthday and promised they would celebrate it properly later, but for now this present was the best she could do. Draco removed the shiny silver paper that was covered in brightly colored fireworks and revealed a large box filled with cans of assorted flavors of macadamia nuts, real macadamia nuts, not the fake ones from the room, and a small black box. When he opened the small black box, he found a tear shaped pendant with swirling silver, blue, and bronze liquids inside. There was a note with the pendant, which said it had a shield charm on it, that would protect the wearer from a wide variety of hexes and curses and that it had belonged to his grandfather, Cygnus Black.

Draco put on the pendant and ate a few of the nuts, storing the rest of the nuts in his school bag. He wrote a return letter to his mother, which he stopped by the owlery before dinner to deliver. Dinner was a cheerful affair, with everyone still excited about the prank they had pulled on Harry. After dinner they went back to the Slytherin common room and celebrated Draco's birthday. It wasn't brilliant, because it was a school night and they had homework to do, but it was the best his friends could do.

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Author's Note: So what did you think of Draco's prank? Should Draco have tried to do more to stop it, or did he do enough?


	50. Chapter 50

Author's Note: I'd like to thank HarryPottersGirl2010 for reviewing last chapter. Thank you girl for the awesome feedback!

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Friday morning was breakfast as usual until Draco received an owl. It was the same owl father always used in Azkaban, but when Draco opened up the scroll, he knew immediately that this wasn't a typical letter, because the first three words were, "Your grandfather Abraxas." That was a code telling Draco that the letter was spelled so that it would read as unimportant drivel if it were intercepted, but would decode to have very important information for his eyes only. Father hadn't sent a letter like this since being locked away, because father didn't have a wand, but maybe father had acquired one or managed the spell with wandless magic. Draco didn't know, but he did know he had to get some privacy and read this.

Draco looked up and glanced around the Great Hall, to make sure he wasn't being watched and that no one had seen. He made eye contact with Harry, who was sitting next to Hermione and Weasley, but watching him. He shook his head, as if to say, "It's nothing," and his eyes lingered in anger a moment too long on Weasley as Draco grabbed his school bag and got up from the table.

Weasley was too close to Harry for Draco's liking. Weasley hadn't been on Harry's side since the incident outside the defense classroom; Weasley normally sat on Hermione's other side, leaving Longbottom or one of the other Gryffindors to sit next to Harry. It irked Draco that Weasley seemed to be back in Harry's good graces, even though Draco's babies had almost died. Draco was going to have to talk to Harry about that.

Weasley would have to wait, because Draco needed to read father's letter. Draco was rushing out of the Great Hall when he heard Professor Snape's voice call out his name behind him. Draco turned around and waited for his professor to walk up to him.

"Mr. Malfoy, is there a matter I need to see to?" Professor Snape asked. He had a morning class, but he could be a few moments late if it meant learning what had his student rushing away from breakfast after receiving a letter from Lucius.

"I don't know yet. I haven't read it. Perhaps we can meet later to discuss it?" Draco asked, indicating the letter.

"Very well. I have a free period before lunch. Please come by my office," Professor Snape requested.

"Yes Professor," Draco said before turning and leaving.

Draco didn't have much time, so he ducked into an unused classroom and cast the decoding spell on the parchment, making sure to give his grandfather's full name as the password to break the code; he had done this enough times in his first five years at Hogwarts to have the spell memorized by heart. The letter went from detailing how proud father and grandfather had been on the day of Draco's birth seventeen years ago, congratulating Draco on turning into such a wonderful young man, expressing love for an adored son, expressing regret on not being able to do more for Draco's birthday, and insisting that Lucius would make it up to Draco next year, to revealing its true message.

Harry knew something was up. He saw Lucius' prison owl delivering something to Draco. He knew Draco had gotten a letter from his dad. But Draco had shaken his head when they made eye contact in the Great Hall and had brushed Professor Snape off when the professor approached. Harry had decided to give Draco space if Draco wanted it, so Harry didn't follow as his boyfriend walked down the corridor; instead he pulled out his map and watched where Draco went from a distance. At least Draco didn't go far and appeared to be staying motionless in one place, which made Harry think he was doing nothing more than reading.

Draco sat down on the floor to read.

Draco,

Professor Snape has written me several letters about your attempts to leave the school to look for your mother. Although I have not been successful in my attempts to locate her, I must advise you to stay at the school for now. I will be out soon and will be able to locate her myself and you need to remain at the school to fulfill your mission. It is still vital that you complete your task. It is an honor to be given such an important assignment. I know this has been hard on you, but it will all be over soon. I am forever proud of you.

-Love, your father, Lucius Malfoy

When Draco glanced away from the parchment to think, the words changed back to the message relating to his birthday.

'Father's getting out soon,' Draco thought. He was having trouble processing it and what it would mean for him, mother, and the babies. Instead, wild scenarios of escape and/or egregious bribes crossed his mind, one after the other.

Draco sat and thought for five minutes until he heard the bell ring, signaling the need to get to class. Nothing in the letter seemed urgent and he had a free period before lunch and a meeting with Professor Snape to discuss the letter, so he decided getting to class was more important than figuring out what to do about the letter.

Harry watched the map in a state of uncertainty as he walked with Hermione and Ron to transfigurations. Harry was about to turn around and go to Draco, to find out if Draco needed support and offer his shoulder to lean on if that were the case, but then Draco moved and Harry watched as his boyfriend walked to class only a few minutes behind him.

Draco stuffed the parchment roll into his pocket, grabbed his school bag, and went off to transfigurations like nothing was wrong. Only something was wrong and he had trouble concentrating in class. He was so pre-occupied with images of father being rescued by fire-breathing dragons or being kissed by dementors that Draco didn't even notice Harry's frequent attempts to catch his eye.

Harry was relieved that the letter was not so serious as to cause Draco to skip class, but he wanted to know what it said and how Draco was doing with it, so he constantly glanced at Draco time and time again during the lesson. When class was finally over and Draco was walking blindly away, swallowed up by his fellow Slytherins, Harry followed and watched for a sign that Draco was splitting off from the group. Ron had followed Harry and stopped with him outside the Great Hall as they watched the Slytherins descend further into the depths of the castle. Now that it was clear Draco was heading down to the dungeons, Harry turned to Ron and said, "Go on back without me. I'm going to signal him to meet me."

Ron nodded and left. Harry found an empty classroom to duck into. Harry pulled out his coin linked with Draco's coin and tapped it with his wand, causing the words, "ROR Now," to appear on it. Harry kept the coin out in one hand as he pulled out his map with the other, quickly locating Draco. Draco was still with a few Slytherins, but then they continued on and Draco stopped at Professor Snape's office. When Draco was still in the professor's office, without responding to Harry's coin message after five minutes, Harry decided to pay Professor Snape a visit himself and see if he could help with anything; or at the very least he'd discover what was happening.

Draco went to talk to Professor Snape as soon as transfigurations was out. He showed Professor Snape the letter and said, "It's coded sir, so that only I can read it." He couldn't tell his professor what spell was used or what the password was, because that would be a betrayal of his father's trust and he wasn't about to betray his father any more than absolutely necessary.

"Then if you don't mind, please read it to me."

Draco nodded and then having memorized his father's words, he repeated them to his professor. When he spoke, he looked at his hands in his lap, but when he finished, he looked up and asked, "Do you know how he might get out?"

"I suppose the Dark Lord will arrange for Lucius to return to Him the same way He did with his most devoted followers. The dementors are in His pocket, so there shouldn't be much of a risk to your father's life," Professor Snape replied.

Draco let out a relieved sigh. Professor Snape started pacing in the small space of the office, so Draco decided to take a seat and think. He was happy his father would most likely not be injured in an escape attempt, but he was also confused about how he should feel about his father getting out soon. If father got out before Draco went into hiding, there was a chance father could find out about the pregnancy, which scared Draco. On the other hand, if father didn't get out until after Draco went into hiding, he wouldn't get a chance to see father until after the war. He would go another year without seeing the most important man in his life and Lucius could possibly die before Draco saw his father again.

That last thought scared Draco more than the others. He would put the safety of his children above the safety of his father, but he had to see his father again before Lucius died fighting for a cause Draco didn't much care for. At the very least, Draco would have to write father a letter explaining his situation once Draco was safely in hiding and knew that father was out of Azkaban.

Professor Snape was still pacing and Draco was still thinking about his father when someone knocked on the door. Startled, Professor Snape turned around and opened the door to find Harry. Professor Snape sighed and gestured for Harry to come inside, knowing that Harry was nosy and would want to know what was going on. Part of Snape wanted to deny the brat just for the pleasure of it, but he knew that Harry played a big part in keeping Draco safe, so he let Harry in.

"What's going on?" Harry asked, taking a seat next to Draco and putting his hand on Draco's shoulder.

"Father wrote me another letter," Draco said, handing the note over to Harry.

Professor Snape started pacing again as Harry read the letter. It seemed to be Lucius wishing Draco a happy birthday, apologizing for not sending a gift, and promising to make it up to Draco. It came off as sweet and endearing, which Harry had trouble picturing with Lucius. "Well this seems rather nice, but why is Professor Snape pacing? And why didn't you tell me it was your birthday?" Harry asked.

Draco looked to his professor to see if he should tell Harry the truth or not. Professor Snape nodded, so he said, "My birthday's not what's important here. The letter is written in code. It says he's getting out of Azkaban soon."

"Oh…" Harry said as he thought about that. Images of Lucius bribing the Minister of Magic and dementors standing at Voldemort's side as they delivered the prisoner straight to Voldemort crossed Harry's mind while he tried to process this news. "When?"

"It doesn't say, other than soon," Draco answered.

"Oh. What are we going to do about it?" Harry wondered.

"I am going to inform the headmaster and Draco is going to write a letter," Professor Snape said, coming to stand in front of the boys and no longer pacing. He had known the basics of what they would have to do from the beginning; it was only the potential complications with Draco's task and pregnancy that he had been trying to work out. Now he decided to figure that out later and concentrate on getting the letter written.

"What should I write?" Draco asked.

"Agree to stay put, finish your task, and stop sneaking out to locate your mother," Professor Snape replied.

Draco took out his writing supplies from his bag and said, "Alright." But when he touched inked quill to parchment, he came up with a blank.

"Start by agreeing to stay and work on your task," Harry prompted.

Draco nodded and wrote the sentence. "Should I ask him when he'll be coming?" Draco asked, looking to Professor Snape.

"Yes, but do so cryptically, because his mail will be screened," the professor replied.

Draco nodded and wrote, "When do you think I will be able to visit you? I miss you so much father."

"Good," Harry said, leaning over and reading the note when Draco put his quill down.

"Now what?" Draco asked.

"Write about what's been happening in your life. What's new since the last time you wrote," Harry suggested. That's what he did with Sirius the few times he wrote Sirius.

"Okay," Draco replied and began to write again. He didn't want to tell father about most of the things happening in his life right now, but there were a few things that were general knowledge and one popped out at him as the sort of thing he'd complained to father about back when his father had influence in the school and might be able to do something about it: Professor Slughorn's detention.

After Draco wrote about the injustice of being given a detention when he hadn't even been caught messing up Potter's potion, he went on to write about the more recent prank he played on Harry with the bubotuber pus. Of course he left out the fact that he switched the pus out for rotten milk or that he had thrown up when he smelt it; instead he exaggerated Harry's injury and said that there were many boils on Harry's face before Harry ran off to the hospital wing.

Harry watched as Draco wrote. He was about to shout at Draco when he read the line about Draco having messed with his potion. He had no idea that Draco had done it and the sudden color change to blue when it had been yellow green now made sense, because Draco had added the excess fig leaves. But Draco floating things into his cauldron to mess with him was nothing compared to the gravity of the situation with Draco's father, so Harry left it alone and continued to read the rest of the letter Draco was writing.

Writing about the prank yesterday reminded Draco of something he wanted to talk to Professor Snape about. "Sir?" Draco asked and waited until he had the professor's attention. "Are you really going to give me a detention for pranking Harry? I had to do it, because Pansy was going to do it. If she'd done it, I wouldn't have been able to switch the bubotuber pus out for milk." Draco left out the part about how he had started it by asking Pansy about pranks she was planning on playing on Harry and seeming excited over the prospect of joining in, because that was beside the point, since he was clearly the hero in this story.

"She was?" Harry asked. He hadn't known that and after watching Draco scowl at him so many times during the past week, he was beginning to suspect the worst of his boyfriend and that the prank was Draco's idea and was just another piece of subterfuge.

"I will excuse you this once; you may consider it your birthday present. I know you have enough on your plate with your detention from Professor Slughorn," Professor Snape answered. "But if Mr. Weasley or anyone else asks, I gave you a long essay assignment on defensive shields that you are to have completed by the end of term."

"Yes, thank you sir," Draco replied, grateful for the reprieve. He had enough going on without having to spend three hours in the same room as Weasley just because they both happened to have detention with the same professor.

"Are you finished?" Professor Snape asked, gesturing to the letter sitting in front of Draco.

"Yeah," Draco replied, handing the note over.

Professor Snape read the letter before handing it back and saying, "Good, send it."

Draco nodded and started putting his things away.

"What time are we meeting tomorrow?" Harry asked hopefully. He was going to ask for conformation that they were still meeting, but he didn't want to give Draco the chance to back out.

"I'm going to visit mother in the morning and show her father's note. We can meet after lunch," Draco offered, getting up to leave. Then he turned to the professor. "Thank you for your help sir."

Professor Snape dismissed Draco with the wave of his hand, because his mind was busy racing with the implications of the latest news. Snape would have to make sure he acted before Lucius escaped, because Draco would need to be whisked away to a safe house, but Snape didn't want to change his plans if Lucius was not going to escape before the end of the term. Snape's cover as a spy depended on this.

Draco left, walking towards the owlery to mail the letter and Harry watched Draco go.

* * *

Author's Note: I think this letter might just be the last one before Lucius gets out. Up next will be the reunion between Harry and Draco.

Please Review!


	51. Chapter 51

Author's Note: This chapter has been censored. To read the full version, go to AO3; you can find the link on my profile page.

Thank you HarryPottersGirl2010 for reviewing the last chapter!

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Harry was excited, nervous, and anxious for his meeting with Draco Saturday. He woke up way too early, showered, got dressed, decided he didn't want to wear school robes, and got dressed again. Then he went to the mirror and tried to comb his hair.

Ron heard Harry rummaging around the room way too early on a Saturday morning when they were supposed to be sleeping in. Harry hadn't even slept to the _normal_ time to get up for a school day. Ron groaned and turned over to try to go back to sleep. He gave up on sleep half an hour later, sat up, and looked around the room. Harry was gone.

Ron had been working really hard this past week to win Harry back. He said nice things about Malfoy, reassured Harry that the berk would come around and forgive Harry. He didn't really want to encourage Harry to stay with Malfoy, but Harry was with Malfoy and still mad at Ron, so Ron knew that if he wanted in, he had to make nice. And since Harry tended to be depressed and mopey as of late, Ron was trying to keep an eye on his friend. Harry would wander off and get himself into a funk and it was up to Ron to find Harry and bring Harry back to the group.

Since Ron was already hopelessly awake, he went to the bathroom with plans of getting dressed and looking for Harry. But those plans were unneeded, because he found Harry in the bathroom, tormenting his black hair with a comb.

"How long have you been at it?" Ron asked.

"Half an hour. I need to go to the room of requirement to look up a grooming spell," Harry said, putting the comb down and giving up on the manual approach.

"The room of requirement for a book?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, the room of requirement will provide me with any book I need. Draco and I've been getting loads of books there. Yeah, I think I fancy a swim as well," Harry said. A nice relaxing swim would calm his nerves.

"A swim inside the room of requirement?" Ron asked confused.

"Yeah, it's been making Draco an ocean this whole time. Anyway, just let Hermione know where I am if she asks," Harry said, grabbing his bag of toiletries and heading back to their dorm. He put his things away and then packed his backpack for the day, making sure he had his swimming trunks. Then when he couldn't find the swimming trunks, he rummaged through his school trunk looking for them, only to remember that he left them in the dresser in the room of requirement. The school year would be over soon and he would have to remember to retrieve all of his clothing from the room before he left on his Horcrux hunt. It would probably be easier if he just flooed it all over from the room of requirement to Grimmauld Place.

"Yeah, okay." Ron thought about having an ocean to swim in inside the room of requirement and got a bit of sudden inspiration, because he fancied a swim himself and the idea just might help him repair his friendship with Harry. "Can I go with you?" he asked.

"What?" Harry asked, absentmindedly as he tried to decide which of his school things he should bring.

"Can I go with you? I fancy a swim too," Ron repeated.

"You fancy a what?" Harry asked confused. Why was Ron asking to go with him? This was his and Draco's room and the thought of having Ron in it just seemed off.

"I fancy a swim. If it's alright with you, I'd like to go with you," Ron replied.

"Oh," Harry said, still thinking about it. He wanted to say yes, to have some company for the day, but then he thought about Draco and wondered if it'd be a violation of Draco's privacy. "It's kinda Draco's room and I don't want to let you in without getting his permission first. It's private."

"Oh yeah, I understand." Ron said disappointed.

"But I could ask the room for a different beach that doesn't belong to Draco," Harry conceded, remembering something Hermione had said about wanting to invite everyone in for an end of term party and use a different beach.

"You could?" Ron asked excitedly.

"Yeah Ron. Let me just signal Hermione that that's where we'll be," Harry said, pulling out his coin that he had linked to Hermione's galleon. He checked it for the small Hr that marked it as the one for Hermione, not Draco or the DA. When he found the letters, he tapped the coin and the words, "ROR at your leisure," appeared. The first three letters were written in rather large font compared to the tiny letters of the rest of it. "There. Grab some homework. We need to get that potions essay done first and charms too."

"Yeah," Ron replied, grabbing his backpack and shoving his potions and charms books inside.

The two of them went downstairs and exited through the portrait hole. Ron went to head downstairs, while Harry passed the stairs and continued on towards the room of requirement. "Oi, aren't you gonna eat breakfast first?" Ron asked.

"No, I'll get some in the room."

"I thought Hermione said the food the room was giving you was no good," Ron replied, but began to follow Harry anyway.

"It was, but Dobby'll bring us food from the kitchen."

"Yeah, okay. Does Hermione know?" Ron asked as Harry paced in a circle three times, having arrived outside the room of requirement.

Harry concentrated on having a room with a beach, swim trunks, a bathroom to change, a table to eat on, a study with desks, and that was definitely _not_ the lilac beach room. He didn't want their bedroom or the forest, although he wouldn't mind a sitting room or the nursery, in case Ginny and Luna wanted to come. "Yep, she's cool with it," Harry said as the door appeared.

Harry grabbed hold of the handle, noticing that it was most definitely not their usual handle. This one was gold and modern, while the usual one was brass and ornate with engraved snakes crawling on it. Harry opened the door and found an island; he walked inside to get a better look and Ron followed him. There was water on three sides, the left, the right, and the rear of the room were all one thin continuous ocean, lined with a sandy beach boarder. The middle of the room was made up of a dirt floor, but there was a wooden shack, with two doors, taking up half of the middle. In front on the shack were a wooden picnic table and several study desks with books piled on them.

"Blimey! Is this where you and Malfoy spend all your time?" Ron asked. Now he understood why Harry wanted to live here; he did too.

"No, this island is completely different from our room; just look how dark of a blue the water is," Harry said, looking out at the sea.

"The ocean looks the same as it does when mum and dad take us to the south shore on vacations," Ron replied.

"The south shore in Britain?" Harry asked and Ron nodded. "Draco's beach is in Hawaii; the ocean is a light teal color and the fake-sun shines brighter. I can barely even see the fake-sun it's so gloomy in here."

"I think it's brilliant." Ron couldn't comprehend that there was a beach from an island on the other side of the world normally in this room; the fact that there was a beach at all was shocking enough for him.

"Yeah, the three sides of ocean will be great for swimming," Harry replied.

"Yeah," Ron agreed, looking at the desks and wondering how Harry could be serious about homework when he had a room like this for the day!

"Let's check out what's in the hut," Harry suggested.

"It looks more like a shack or a rundown beach house," Ron replied, but followed Harry to the shack.

Harry opened the door on the right….and found a bathroom. There was a dresser in the bathroom and when Harry opened it he found both his real swim trunks and the lilac pair he used to borrow. There was a door that led from the bathroom to a sitting room that had a door back to the outside and another door, leading further into the shack.

"Let's see what's through the other door," Harry suggested. Ron agreed and followed Harry through the door.

This door led to a large nursery. The walls were lined with six cribs and numerous baby items in multiple. Harry recognized many of the items from the old nursery, some of which had the plumeria and sea turtle patterns. There were also many new items, most of which had a generic looking teddy bear pattern on it, which was made repulsive by the fact that the teddy bears were dressed in baby bonnets and baby nappies. The cribs, on the other hand, were each done in a different pattern.

The first crib was Draco's sea turtle crib, but it was empty and Cereus was nowhere in sight; there was a new sea creature mobile on top, but Harry didn't know why it was there. The second crib was Harry's plumeria crib and Plumeria was sleeping soundly inside. There was also a new mobile on it, this time a flower one. "This is Plumeria," Harry explained to Ron as his friend peered in.

"She looks just like you," Ron replied, noting the black hair.

"You don't even know the half of it; she's got my eyes too."

"Wicked."

"Everyone's baby looks identical to them," Harry said as he went over to the third crib, which was one he'd never seen before, but contained Hermione's doll. This crib was yellow and covered in stars with a mobile of the solar system. "This one's Hermione's."

Ron didn't reply to that, he just gulped and starred.

The final three cribs were empty and without mobiles. The fourth one was blue and covered in brooms. The fifth was orange and covered in devil's snare. The final one was giraffe skin. "Why are there six cribs, do you think?" Harry asked.

Harry had a feeling that three more people were going to want to play with the dolls today; Ginny had been bugging him all week about letting her and Luna into the room to play with the babies. He figured that one of the remaining cribs was for Ginny, but who was the sixth crib for? "Ron?" Harry asked when his friend still hadn't spoken.

Ron was leaning over the blue broomstick crib. Harry noticed that a snitch, bludger, and quaffle mobile was now hanging over the crib. Realization dawned on Harry that the sixth crib was for Ron.

"He looks just like me," Ron said, rising back up from stroking the strawberry blond haired baby's cheek. Ron looked at Harry and saw that Harry was watching him.

"She; they're all girls Ron," Harry replied.

"But he's dressed in blue and in a blue crib," Ron protested.

"The dolls are only made in female. So far the room has only given us female dolls."

"Well then she has my red hair and my nose and my chin," Ron listed.

"She'll probably open her blue eyes for you if you pick her up," Harry suggested. "But her hair is quite a bit lighter than yours."

"Mine was light like this was I was a baby. And no, I don't want to mess Rose up without Hermione here to make sure I do it right," Ron said.

"Rose?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, well you named yours Plumeria and I always wanted a daughter named Rose. It's a classy name, innit?"

"Yeah, it's great Ron. Let's change and go for a swim then," Harry suggested.

Harry turned around and led the way back to the bathroom. They changed into their trunks and went out to the beach, where a pile of towels appeared on the sand.

"Brilliant," Ron said, seeing the towels.

"Yeah, race you," Harry said, running into the water. Unlike their lilac beach, this water was frigid cold. Harry had to stop, pull out his wand, and cast warming and impervious charms on himself so that he didn't freeze to death.

"You're on," Ron said, anticipating the cold and casting the charms first, before stepping into the water.

Harry and Ron swam laps around the u-shaped ocean for an hour. When they were tired of swimming, they came in and dried off. Then they showered, changed, and called Dobby for breakfast. After eating, they went into the sitting room to read. Ron had a Quidditch book, while Harry had a grooming book and was experimenting with different ways of styling his hair.

Harry had a red and gold Mohawk when he heard the door open and Hermione call, "Harry, Ron, are you in here?"

Harry rushed out of the room to greet Hermione. Hermione was still hanging out in the hall, holding the door open. "Yeah, we're here. You can come in," Harry said, walking the twenty feet to the door.

"Um, Ginny and Luna are with me and they're being much more persistent that usual," Hermione replied and then a look of shock crossed her face as she took in Harry's hair style. "What have you done to your hair?"

"Bring them in. There are already cribs for them in the nursery," Harry replied, ignoring the comment about his hair until he was in a position to ask Hermione to fix it. He hadn't meant to get it stuck red and gold; that part had just happened and he couldn't undo it.

Hermione didn't even get the chance to reply, before Luna and Ginny were clamoring to rush into the room.

"Where's the nursery," Ginny asked, rushing past Harry, not quite noticing his hair.

"In the house," Harry replied, walking back towards the shack.

"Thank you for inviting us into your home," Luna said as Ginny ran ahead. "And I must say that I'm particularly fond of the way you've styled your hair today."

"Thanks Luna," Harry replied.

"I'll be in the nursery," Luna said, before ducking her head down to excuse herself and following Ginny's lead.

Harry and Hermione followed quietly behind them.

"Why is my daughter in a blue Quidditch crib?" Ginny asked indignantly, picking Rose up.

"Because that's Ron's baby, not yours," Harry answered. Ron hadn't gotten off of the sofa, so Harry felt he should do the explaining.

"Don't touch my Rose! I was saving her for Hermione to help me!" Ron shouted, barreling into the room and not stopping until he was in front of his sister and intimidating her with his height.

"Merlin, Ron, it was an honest mistake. She's got red hair, just like me," Ginny said, holding the baby out to hand to her brother. The baby opened her eyes to reveal blue.

Hermione came to stand by Ron's side and watched as Ron reached his arms out in a cradle-like position and let his sister hand him the newborn. "Well she's got my eyes, so keep to the red-haired brown-eyed ones, if you will," Ron replied. He turned to face Hermione and looked his girlfriend in the eyes. "Isn't she precious?"

"Yes Ron. I'm quite surprised actually. I didn't think you would even want one, much less already have one when we got here," Hermione replied.

"Well I just looked over the crib and the mobile and baby appeared," Ron replied shrugging, but the movement jostled the baby, which scared him. Luckily the baby didn't cry and instead cooed as she continued to look at him with those big blue eyes.

Meanwhile, Luna had gone straight to the orange Devil Snare patterned crib, causing a cork, bottle cap, and milk carton mobile to appear along with a baby dressed in a peach colored nightgown. Luna wasted no time in taking her baby to one of the rocking chairs to bond.

Ginny too had made her way over to her crib, choosing the animal print one. An African animal mobile appeared above the crib as Ginny bent down to pick up the little redheaded girl dressed in a crème nightgown; this baby had much more shockingly red hair than Ron's. Ginny took her baby back to one of the changing tables to check her out and see if the doll was as realistic as she had been led to believe. It was.

Harry walked over to Ron and Hermione once their goo-goo eye thing stopped and Hermione had retrieved her doll Jean from the yellow crib. He was thinking of getting Plumeria and joining them; maybe he could earn some points and impress Draco.

"Harry, do Ginny and Luna know?" Ron asked.

"Um, no. I think Luna might, but I've never confirmed his name with her. Neither of them knows the other thing…" Harry replied. Draco would kill him if Ginny and Luna found out that Draco was pregnant; or maybe Draco would just obliviate them.

"Okay, my mouth is zipped." Ron mimed zipping his mouth closed, but continued talking right after. "Is that his crib?" Ron pointed to the first crib, which was in fact Cereus'.

"Yes," Harry answered. "Can I get Plumeria and join you?"

"Yeah," Ron replied happily. It felt like old times hanging out with Harry and Hermione again and no one was mad at him at the moment.

Hermione and Harry spent the next two hours showing Ron, Ginny, and Luna how to take care of and play with the dolls and the various nursery items. By eleven, Ron, Hermione, and Harry had returned their dolls to their cribs and retreated to the sitting room for a break, while Luna and Ginny were still eagerly obsessed with their new toys.

"Babies are exhausting," Ron concluded. All of the feeding, changing, and getting puked on was a lot of work.

"Honestly Ronald, it's not that bad once you get used to it," Hermione replied.

"I'm tired too, Hermione. You got to factor in that we were up all morning doing laps around the ocean," Harry said.

"You were?" Hermione asked surprised. She knew the boys had been in here since before breakfast, but she had assumed they had just lain about.

"Yes, we were," Ron confirmed. "By the way Harry, what is wrong with your hair?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot. It got stuck this color and I still can't find a style that looks good on me. Hermione, can you help?" Harry asked pleadingly.

"I'll see what I can do. What spells have you tried?" Hermione asked.

"Thanks, you're a life-saver," Harry said, pulling out the hair glamour book he had been reading earlier from where it was wedged in the couch cushions.

Harry and Ron talked casually, while Hermione read the book and found a counter spell to return Harry's hair to normal, which she did. Then Hermione decided on a simple styling spell, which she also performed. Finally Hermione taught the spells to Harry so that he could do his own hair next time.

It was lunch time when Hermione finally finished with Harry's hair, so Harry shoed Luna and Ginny out and the group made their way down to the Great Hall for lunch.

Harry's friends had been a needed distraction all morning, but as soon as lunch was over, Harry was once again anxious with anticipation over his meeting with Draco. He excused himself from the lunch table and made his way, alone, back up to the room of requirement, this time asking for the beach lilac room. Once the room appeared, he went inside and looked around, making sure that nothing was out of place and was relieved when everything was found to be in order.

Harry walked aimlessly through the house, trying to decide what to do while he waited for Draco. There was still half an hour left of the lunch hour and he had already swam and played in the nursery today. He should be doing homework, but he didn't feel like it, so he went and lay down on the bed. He needed to get Draco something to celebrate Draco's birthday, but he didn't have a present or a chance to go shopping. He stared at the ceiling and then suddenly remembered what Draco had said about being romanced once a week. This was his chance to talk to Draco and beg for forgiveness, but it was also his chance to show that he should be forgiven.

Remembering that Draco had liked the flowers, Harry jumped to his feet and ran out to cut some from the lilac forest. He made a bouquet, which he put into a vase, but skipped the flowers on the bed, because he didn't like picking lilacs off of his cock afterwards.

Draco still wasn't around when Harry was done, so Harry tried to think of something he could do to show Draco that he was prepared to take responsibility for _two_ babies. Harry settled on using their dolls to show he could manage two babies. He went back into the nursery and wished for a twin stroller like the one Narcissa was ordering. He inserted Plumeria on one side and Cereus on the other. Once he was ready, he took the babies outside for a walk in the forest. He imagined that this was the type of thing he would do with his boys when Draco needed a break.

Harry was halfway through the lilac forest when he heard the door open and Draco's voice calling out, "Harry, where are you?"

"I'm in the forest," Harry replied and hurried along to greet his boyfriend.

"This is a surprise," Draco said when he saw Harry exiting the forest with the stroller. He hadn't expected Harry to touch the dolls without him or Hermione around.

"Yeah, well I just wanted to practice taking them for a walk, for when I do the same with our babies," Harry said and led Draco into the sitting room. "I hope you're not mad at me for touching Cereus."

"No, it's fine. I kinda like that you're showing initiative," Draco said sitting down on the sofa.

"Oh yeah, I've got loads of initiative. I'm gonna help you with our sons all the time," Harry replied, parking the stroller and sitting down next to Draco.

"Good." Draco was skeptical about how much Harry would be around, and not just with the upcoming war. The way Harry worded it made Draco think that Harry was going to be one of those part-time fathers that only play with their kids part of the time and dump them off on the other parents to take care of the majority of the time. You know, the ones who call watching their own kids babysitting?

"Listen, I know you're upset that there are two of them, but it's gonna be okay. I'm gonna work hard and provide for all of you. I'm sure I'll get some money for killing Voldemort and I have a couple of properties already and my invisibility cloak, so I'll make a good inheritance for one of our sons. Whichever one that doesn't get your house won't be short changed," Harry promised.

"Is that what you think?" Draco asked, lip curling up in a sneer and pulling away from Harry.

"Yeah. I know your family's rich and that you don't want to break it up between two boys, but you don't need to worry about that."

Draco slapped Harry in the face and stormed out of the room through the front door of the hut. Harry thought that Draco was leaving the room of requirement, so he rushed out after Draco to stop Draco and beg for another chance. But Draco wasn't heading towards the door to the room of requirement; Draco was walking towards the beach. Harry watched as Draco sat down on the sand and watched the small waves wash ashore.

Harry sat down next to Draco and looked out on the water. They were silent for five minutes before Draco spoke. "Harry, I couldn't give a pixy's fart about inheritance right now."

"Okay, then do you want to explain what's got you upset?" Harry asked. He wanted to blame Narcissa for leading him to believe that Draco was upset over inheritance issues, but he didn't think that would help his case right now.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous it'll be for me to carry and give birth to twins with a Peverell pregnancy?" Draco asked.

"Um… no?" Harry replied.

"Centaurs never produce twins and since the Peverell reproductive machinery is based off of centaur bits, my body isn't designed to be able to carry two babies. It's possible to, but exponentially more risky. Professor Snape could probably deliver one Peverell baby without complications, but with two…it could easily turn for the worse. One of the babies could die, both of the babies could die, or I could die and Professor Snape might have no choice but to send me to Saint Mungo's, no matter who's in control of the place at the moment. Tell me Harry, do you think the Dark Lord will let a traitor like me walk out of a hospital under his control after giving birth to your twins?"

"I didn't know," Harry said to the first part of Draco's statement, without answering Draco's question.

"Of course you didn't. You were two busy thinking about inheritance to think about me and my children," Draco replied.

"Um, no, I just thought that that was what you'd be concerned about. I was thinking about hiding two children from Voldemort and how much more work that would be."

"Oh, yeah, that too. You should've led with that and then I wouldn't've hit you."

"You do hit me a lot, considering you asked me not to hit you anymore."

"Well it seems to get your attention."

"Well you've got it, so how about you let me give you a backrub?" Harry suggested, trying to get this meeting back on track.

"Yeah, my back has been killing me," Draco agreed, taking off his robes and presenting his back to Harry while still sitting up on the beach.

Harry required the room provide him with lotion and set to work massaging Draco's back. "You know, next time we're fighting, you should still come to me and have me massage your back every day."

"Yeah, okay. This arrangement did far too much punishing me when you were the one who fucked up," Draco replied, his eyes closed and his chin resting on his chest as he enjoyed the feel of Harry's hands on his body. The stress and pain were melting away and were replaced by a tingling sensation and a since of euphoria.

Harry didn't respond to that, but continued to work the lotion into Draco's skin and caress Draco's back. After a few more minutes Draco started moaning, which made Harry's cock suddenly take notice and jump to attention. Harry began to wish that he was giving this massage in the bed, so that it would be easier to seduce Draco, but he would have to make do. On his knees, he scooted up a bit closer behind Draco and reached around to massage Draco's chest, making sure to brush against those sensitive nipples.

Draco leaned back resting his head on Harry's left arm and giving Harry better access to his hard nipples as the pleasure shot through his body. He had hoped that Harry would figure out what he needed and take charge and now it seemed that he was getting his wish. He hadn't cum since his wank Thursday and had decided that since he couldn't stop thinking about Harry while he was wanking, he might as well give in and let Harry do the wanking in the first place.

Harry pulled Draco up into his chest, so that Draco's back was pressed against Harry's chest. Harry bent down and began sucking on Draco's exposed neck as his hands continued to explore Draco's hard chest. His hand dipped lower a few times, passing across Draco's stomach, which was just a bit fuller than the last time he had held Draco. Harry smiled into Draco's neck and kissed along Draco's jaw, before snaking his fingers into Draco's pants. He touched Draco down there and was rewarded with a loud gasp from Draco as a shudder obviously ripped through Draco's body.

The sensation was so good that it was all Draco could do to breathe and listen to the sound of his heart beat pounding in his ears. His lungs hurt as his body screamed for more oxygen and his breathing came in quick uncontrollable pants of urgent breath. He could feel his blood pounding under Harry's firm touch. The rest of the world faded out, because it was all he could do to focus on the sensations.

Draco's body felt heavier against Harry's chest as his boyfriend began to sag. Remembering Draco's tendency to get light headed during sexual activity, Harry leaned their bodies back a little more, and whispered into Draco's ear, "Do you want to take this to the bed?"

Draco didn't reply, so Harry asked the question again louder, and again got no response. Sighing in frustration, Harry decided that he couldn't go on without some form a verbal consent from his boyfriend, not after they had been fighting all week. Thus Harry removed his hand from Draco's pants and pulled Draco more firmly into his arms, turning Draco slightly so that he could look into Draco's face. Draco's mouth was wide open as Draco panted, but Draco's eyes were closed tightly and Draco didn't seem to have noticed yet that the wanking had stopped.

Harry waited there like that until Draco's breathing calmed down and Draco opened his eyes and looked up at Harry accusingly. Harry wasn't sure if Draco was going to accuse Harry of seducing Draco or of stopping too soon, but as the seconds ticked by without either, Harry decided to speak.

"Can I take you to the bed?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," Draco replied, still light headed, even though he didn't think he could walk just yet.

When Draco didn't move, Harry pulled out his wand and cast a lightening charm, before picking Draco up bridal style and carrying Draco into the beach bedroom and laying Draco on the bed. Draco looked lazily down at his own pants, as if Draco wished they'd disappear and the wanking would resume.

"Can I take these off?" Harry offered, reaching towards the waistband of the pants.

"Yeah," Draco replied. It seemed to be all he was capable of saying right now.

Harry pulled the pants off of Draco without any help from Draco. Harry looked down and greedily saw his naked boyfriend sprawled on his bed again, right where he wanted Draco.

"Can I suck you?" Harry asked.

Draco agreed and Harry sucked Draco off quickly.

*Censored

When Draco was done, Harry vanished the cum and crawled up next to Draco, taking Draco into his arms. Draco snuggled closer and fell asleep, just like old times. Harry was tired from waking up so early that morning, so he closed his eyes and dozed off.

Draco woke up a few hours later and found himself in Harry's arms, which was unusual, because Harry didn't tend to stay in bed doing nothing while Draco slept; either Harry would get up and study or read a book in bed. Draco turned and looked to see what Harry was doing and discovered that his boyfriend was sleeping. Draco liked to cuddle, so he stayed put in Harry's arms, but he couldn't resist running his fingers through Harry's black hair. It was shorter and slightly more neatly styled than usual, and he figured Harry had cut it recently. Harry didn't stir, so he let his fingers drift to Harry's face, gently tracing the contours of Harry's cheeks, jaw, and finally those pink lips. Then he leaned in and placed a soft kiss on those lips.

Harry was slowly awoken by the feeling of Draco's hand in his hair and on his face. He liked it, so he let the sleep leave him slowly and then he felt something soft on his lips. He opened his eyes to find Draco's eyes staring at him as Draco's lips were pressed against him. He fought against his grogginess and pressed his lips against Draco's lips, returning the kiss. Their lips moved together in a slow and sensual caress as he slowly slipped his tongue inside Draco's mouth.

After a few minutes, Harry pulled back a bit and said, "I think I like being woken up this way."

"Good," Draco said and leaned in for another kiss. Harry's body shifted and Draco suddenly felt something hard pressing into his stomach. "Hard again already?"

"No, I didn't cum," Harry admitted. He had been meaning to stroke himself while he gave head, but Draco had cum unexpectedly and much sooner than usual, so he hadn't gotten around to it.

"You didn't touch yourself?"

"Nope. I was concentrating on giving you a blow job."

"Oh. You can do it now and I'll watch," Draco suggested, feeling lazy.

Harry wanted Draco to touch him and he didn't really feel like touching himself, but he didn't want to say that and make Draco think that Draco had to touch him. He just wanted to wait until Draco wanted to do it for him. Thus Harry didn't say anything, choosing to lay there holding Draco instead.

When Harry didn't reply, Draco asked, "What's wrong? I can feel your erection."

"It can wait. I was enjoying holding you in my arms again," Harry replied.

"That's very admirable of you," Draco replied, and snuggled in closer to Harry's side.

Harry and Draco cuddled and kissed lightly for fifteen more minutes before Draco pulled away and said, "I'm hungry. I'm gonna get something from the icebox to eat while you prep yourself."

"Okay," Harry replied and let Draco up.

Draco came back a minute later with a bowl of oatmeal and fresh berries. He found Harry right where he left Harry on the bed, so he crawled back onto the bed and sat against the headboard to eat. "Um, feel free to start the show. I'm ready whenever you are," Draco said, hoping to move Harry along. It wasn't polite to leave your boyfriend unfinished and he didn't want to sit here in the bedroom all day.

"Um, I don't have to do it today."

"Oh, so you just want to wait until tonight and do it yourself then?" Draco asked, in between bites of his snack. Harry didn't answer or make eye contact with him, so he began to wonder what was going on. "You're still stretching yourself every night without me, right?"

"Um, no," Harry admitted.

"And why not? We're still getting married at the end of the term and that's just around the corner."

"Are we though? You were so mad at me and I thought that you might not want to."

"Yeah, I told you we were. I'm still pregnant and now there are twice as many children that need to be legitimized."

"I don't want to just get married to legitimize our sons. I love you Draco and I want to get married to be with you for the rest of my life."

"We can do that too."

"Can we? You haven't even been talking to me this week."

"I'm talking to you now."

"And I appreciate that. Am I forgiven?"

"Not completely, but I was thinking it was time to move on. Like I said, staying mad at you is a lot of work for me. There's no one to massage my back or wank me or worship me. It's bloody awful, let me tell you."

"Or make you bouquets of flowers," Harry added, pointing to the flowers on the dresser.

Draco had passed the flowers earlier, but he didn't really notice them until now. Now he looked and recognized the flowers and vase as being very similar to the one Harry had made him before the botched proposal. "You made me flowers?" Draco asked as a huge smile broke out on his face. He jumped up, exchanging the empty oatmeal bowl for the vase of flowers.

Harry moved to the edge of the bed and dangled his legs over the side of the bed. Draco stepped up to Harry and Harry opened his legs to allow Draco in between and then encouraged Draco to sit in his lap with the flowers. Draco looked down adoringly into Harry's eyes. Harry blushed and shyly said, "Yeah, for your birthday. You said you wanted to be romanced, didn't you?"

"Yes," Draco replied, thinking that the blowjob and these flowers were better than the crappy celebration his friends had given him for his birthday. "Very much so."

"Good," Harry said and kissed Draco.

Draco almost dropped the vase with the intensity of the kiss and Harry had to catch it before it fell to the floor. "Okay, I think the flowers should watch from over here," Harry said getting up and putting the flowers on the nightstand.

"Good idea."

Draco stood up too and Harry took Draco into his arms again and snogged Draco some more. Draco's breathing and heart rate picked up as his arousal grew. It had been hours since Draco came and Harry's thigh was pressing insistently into his bits, making him hard again. Draco wanted Harry to get him off again, but he also knew that Harry would have to be stretched this time, so he pulled his mouth away and said, "Get your potions."

"Yes sir," Harry replied, moving Draco towards the bed and pushing on Draco's shoulders so that Draco would sit and wait for him.

Draco sat and Harry prepared both applicators, before putting them on the second nightstand; the one that the flowers weren't on. Then Harry cast his preparatory spells and returned to Draco, who had scooted further onto the bed, but was still sitting up. Harry pushed Draco back onto the bed to snog Draco senseless and aligned their groins. They dry humped on the bed and Draco fingered Harry.

*Censored

When they were done, Harry cleaned them up and they cuddled together again. But this time neither was tired, so after a few minutes they sat up and Harry asked, "So what do you want to do now?"

"I don't know. What do you want to do?"

"How about you tell me about your visit with your mum," Harry suggested. They had an hour and a half before dinner time.

"It was great. Mother had the house elves make me a cheesecake and she had ice cream and the elves to sung me. Then she had some more wedding plans for me to go over and the baby clothes from the first order had already arrived, so we went through them and made sure nothing was wrong with any of them. They were all so cute!"

"Did you tell your mum about your dad's letter?"

"Yeah,"

"What did she say?"

"She said that we'll make contact with him when we're both safely in hiding and let him know that our loyalties have shifted. We'll advise him to lay low until after the war."

"Will Voldemort let your dad just drop out of his ranks?"

"No, but we Malfoys have our ways; father is much more skilled at defensive magics than mother and I'm sure he'll be able to stay hidden.

"And how do you feel about your dad getting out?"

"I'm glad, because I never wanted him to be locked up, but I'm also nervous. I want to see him, but I'm scared," Draco admitted and Harry held him tighter.

"It'll be okay; your dad loves you and nothing can change that, right?" Harry wasn't so sure, but he was trying to be positive.

"Right," Draco replied, before changing the subject. "So what did you do today?"

"I came here, only I asked for a different room. It gave me a beach in the south of England and an ugly shack."

"Why'd you ask for that?"

"Ron was with me and Hermione was supposed to be meeting me. Ron and I went for a swim. Hermione met us later, but she had Ginny and Luna with her. They wanted to play dolls, so the five of us went into a different nursery that we found inside the shack."

"Hmmm, I wanted to talk to you about Weasley. Why've you forgiven him so fast?" Draco asked accusingly.

"I haven't forgiven him, exactly," Harry replied with a shrugged, before thinking about it for several minutes. "We're not friends again like we were, but he's been keeping me company while I've been lonely without you. He's accepted that you're my boyfriend and has said nothing but positive things about you all week; it's really made him easier to get along with. I hope that someday we can all hang out together and be friends."

"No, I put up with Hermione and I'm not gonna do the same for Weasley. Are you forgetting that he punched me in the stomach while I'm pregnant with your sons?" Draco asked indignantly.

"No, I'm not and I don't think I can ever forgive that, but like you said, I'm ready to move on and I need him to help me defeat Voldemort."

"Well then go defeat the Dark Lord with him, but keep him away from me and my children."

"Okay, I think I can work with that," Harry conceded.

The two of them stayed in bed for half an hour more and talked about their week apart, each of them telling the other about what they did. Then they practiced occlumency until it was time for dinner.

When they were gathering their things and preparing to leave, Harry asked, "Can I see you again tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I can do after lunch again, but we need to spend most of that time studying," Draco replied.

"If we're studying, can I invite Hermione?"

"Yeah, as long as you kick her out after we study."

"You got it," Harry replied with a smile.

They shared one last kiss and then they each went their separate ways before heading towards the Great Hall.

* * *

Author's Note: Harry and Draco are back together! Yay!

Please Review!


	52. Chapter 52

Author's Note: This chapter has been censored. To read the full version, go to AO3; you can find the link on my profile page.

I would like to thank MDarKspIrIt for reviewing the last chapter. Thank you!

* * *

Harry spent Sunday morning with Ron and Hermione outside on the school lawn studying for their end of year exams. After lunch, Harry met Draco in the room of requirement, where Draco presented Harry with the finalized marriage contract, which they both signed and sent off. Draco also informed Harry that Narcissa had scheduled the wedding for three weeks from now, which was weeks sooner than Harry had been expecting.

Once the marriage talk was settled, the boys snogged and made their way to the bedroom. Draco walked over to the tubs of potion on the dresser and readied the usual two applicators and when Harry realized what Draco was doing, Harry cast his three usual preparatory spells.

Draco wanted to do Harry first today, to make sure that Harry's arse got stretched properly for once, so he ordered, "Take your robes off." While Harry began to strip, Draco used the finger extension charm on himself. Draco looked at his grotesquely elongated fingers and then back up at Harry's now naked body. "How often do you use this charm on yourself?"

"Um, I haven't," Harry admitted and blushed. He felt a bit self-conscious that he was naked and Draco wasn't.

"You mean to tell me that for the past three weeks, you haven't used this charm once? You haven't stretched yourself properly once? Why?"

"I don't know how to cast it and I forgot about it after the first day," Harry admitted with a shrug.

"Well you'll need to learn and start doing it right. How do you suppose anything other than the first bit is gonna fit if you don't?" Draco slowly stepped closer to Harry with a predatory gleam in his eyes.

"Yeah, alright," Harry conceded as Draco reached Harry and pushed Harry back onto the bed. Harry eagerly scooted back on the bed a bit, spreading his legs open.

"Roll over so I can finger you Potter."

"Um, how about we try a new position? I want to do it like this, face to face," Harry suggested.

"And how do I reach your arse?" Draco asked, grabbing the applicator with the stretching potion.

"I lift my legs up," Harry replied, pulling his legs up, so they were bent at the knees.

"And I guess I need to kneel in between your legs?" Draco asked, looking down at Harry's willing body and trying to figure out how this would work.

"Yeah," Harry answered, reaching out and taking Draco's hand as Draco moved into position.

*Censored

Draco watched Harry cum in this new position. Draco was incredibly turned on by the erotic moaning noises coming out of Harry's mouth. Draco's heart rate and breathing rate picked up as Harry's face scrunched up in ecstasy; Draco was captivated by that look. Draco's breathing sped up to the point of pain and his head spun. When the show was over, Draco lay down next to Harry, trying to get a grip on himself and catch his breath. Draco hadn't cum, but he felt strangely overwhelmed from watching the sight of Harry doing so.

When Harry came back down, Draco was lying next to him. Harry grabbed his wand and lazily vanished the cum. Harry held Draco silently for a few minutes before kissing Draco and then turning it into an all-out snog. Harry wanked Draco and when Harry got hard again, they humped.

Draco felt light-headed again as the sex resumed. His heart was pounding and his breath came so rapidly it hurt, but also he felt this overwhelming feeling of rightness and happiness, like this was perfect and he didn't know what to do about that. In the end he decided to fist the sheets and concentrate on breathing and the wonderful feeling building inside him. The pleasure was just so intense that it was impossible for him to focus on anything other than the delicious tingling and anticipation.

*Censored

Harry held Draco in his arms as his boyfriend fell asleep. Harry lay there feeling particularly grateful that Draco seemed to have forgiven him and their relationship was back on track. It occurred to Harry then that he had yet to propose to Draco properly and the time Harry had to do so was eroding away quickly, because there were only three weeks left until the wedding. Harry had wanted to wait until Draco told Harry that Draco loved Harry, but even if Draco didn't love Harry, their time was running out and Harry needed to get on with the proposal. Harry would have to get some advice on how to propose.

* * *

Potions Monday morning started off well for Draco. He woke up half an hour early thanks to a nauseous feeling in his stomach, but it went away quickly when he drank the pumpkin juice that was sitting on his bedside table. He used the extra time to read through the day's potion recipe an extra time and consequently, he didn't waste time trying to chop an ingredient that needed to be ground, like the rest of the class did. He was the first one done and his potion was perfect.

Draco was packing up his notes and potion supplies when Professor Slughorn approached him. "Mr. Malfoy, if I may have a word with you before you go."

"Yes sir?" Draco asked, looking up from his school bag.

"Professor Snape has informed me of your inability to scrub cauldrons. You will be completing an essay for me due in two weeks. I want two scro-" Professor Slughorn started to say, but Draco cut him off.

"But sir, I don't have time to write an essay in the next two weeks," Draco interrupted.

"And why not? You had time to interrupt my class last week."

"I'm sorry sir. I know I shouldn't have done that and it won't happen again, but can we talk about this in private?" Draco asked, glancing at his fellow Slytherins so that the professor would understand that he didn't want them to overhear.

"Yes, alright. We could go into the storeroom and cast a silencing spell," Professor Slughorn offered. When Draco agreed, the professor ordered anyone who finished their potion while he was away to wait for him to come back before cleaning up, but he didn't think there would be an issue, because no one was almost done. Draco walked into the storeroom with Professor Slughorn and waited for him to cast a silencing charm. "Well Mr. Malfoy, what did you want to say to me?"

"I wanted to explain why I acted out last week. I was very worried about my mother sir and not thinking about what I was doing or saying. You taught my mother, Narcissa Black, didn't you sir?" This was information Draco didn't want to reveal in front of the class, because his fellow Slytherins didn't know his mother was missing and they knew he had been visiting her regularly. It would get back to the Dark Lord eventually, but since none of his friends knew that it was important information and most of their Death Eater parents were locked up, it hadn't leaked yet. Of course it would be a different story if the Carrow girls were in his year, because they were already reporting directly to the Dark Lord, as were a few of the students in the year above his, but he was the lead budding Death Eater in his year and should've been the one reporting to the Dark Lord. Only his friends in his year knew about his visiting his mother, so he was safe.

"Yes, I taught the whole Black family. I hadn't heard that anything was wrong with her. Is she ill?" Slughorn asked, taking the carrot that Draco was dangling in front of him. He was always a gossip and was curious, even though Narcissa never was particularly good at potions, nor had she made the shelf.

"She's missing sir. No one has heard from her in months and the last anyone saw of her she was with _Him_." Draco gulped for emphasis and looked up at his professor with wide eyes that hopefully conveyed fear and the implication that his mother had been killed by the Dark Lord.

"Oh dear. I'm sure she'll turn up." Professor Slughorn was not at all sure Narcissa Malfoy would turn up. He hated to think that another person had fallen prey to Tom's cruelty, but he couldn't picture Narcissa holding her own against him.

"No, I don't think so sir. Father may be in Azkaban, but he still has connections and no one in _His_ circle has seen mother. I've been trying to find her, but I'm trapped here at school and every time I try, Professor Snape catches me and stops me. I've been sick with worry and dread and I just know something horrible has happened to her."

"Alright Mr. Malfoy, I understand. You may be excused from your detention for now, but I will require you to serve it next year when things have calmed down."

"But sir, I don't think I'll be able to come back next year. Mother's probably dead and father is in Azkaban; I'm practically an orphan."

Draco knew he was playing it up a bit now, because it didn't matter if Slughorn wanted him to serve detention next year or not, since he wouldn't be back, but he felt like manipulating the old man a bit. He liked it when other people felt sorry for him, because it normally led to special treatment, which he rightly deserved. Besides, Slughorn had refused to let him into the Slugclub because of his father's actions, so he didn't feel bad about rubbing his orphan-hood in the professor's face. He even made his eyes water, by thinking about how scared he had felt when mother really had been in danger.

Then Draco decided to add on one more detail that should really make the old tosser feel sorry for him. "My only remaining relatives are the Lestranges. I'll probably be sent to live with them this summer and you know what that means," he lied. Grandmother Druella was still alive and although she was really getting on in years, Draco would prefer to live with her than his crazy aunt, but Slughorn didn't need to know that.

"Oh dear. Have you spoken to Professor Snape or Professor Dumbledore about this situation?"

"If I did I'd be considered a traitor by my family."

Professor Slughorn was at a loss for what to say to that, so he remained silent in thought.

"Can I finish packing up now, sir? Class is almost over," Draco said when the professor was silent for a few minutes.

Professor Slughorn snapped back to the present as he realized how long he had been in the storeroom talking to Mr. Malfoy. "Yes it is. You may go," he said, forgetting all about the detention.

Happy that he had won that round, Draco went back into the classroom and finished packing his things. The rest of the class was finishing up, so Professor Slughorn went straight to work, checking to make sure potions were correct. Blaise got the all clear to leave first, so he ran out of the room to catch up with Draco for the short walk to their common room.

Once they were passed the portrait hole, Blaise asked, "So what'd you say to Slughorn?"

"Oh I just spun a load of bull for a sob story about why he can't give me detention. By the end of it he completely forgot about my detention," Draco replied smiling.

"Brilliant," Blaise replied.

* * *

Later in the Gryffindor common room, Harry was just packing his completed charms homework into his backpack in preparation to head down to the Great Hall for lunch when he felt his charmed coin burning in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw the words, "3pm Snape's Office," now written on the coin.

Harry stared at the coin and wondered why Draco wanted to meet with him in Snape's office.

After charms, Harry anxiously walked down to Professor Snape's office and knocked on the door, but no one answered. He waited nervously by the door until Snape appeared and let him in.

"Where's Draco?" Harry asked, as soon as he and the professor were safely inside the office.

"Probably still on his way. Have a seat and wait patiently Mr. Potter," Professor Snape replied, before sitting down at his desk and flipping through a large tomb that was already lying open on said desk.

Harry sat and fidgeted as he waited. Ten minutes later, Draco opened the door and walked into the office. "Sorry I'm late, I had to stay after class and talk to Professor Binns," Draco said, setting his school bag down by the door and walking over to the exam table.

"Draco, what's going on? Why am I meeting you here?" Harry asked.

"You said you wanted to come to my checkups, didn't you?" Draco asked indignantly before pulling his school robes off and sitting on the exam table. He normally didn't wear anything other than pants underneath his robes, but he had gone back to his dorm before lunch to change into trousers after setting this appointment with Professor Snape. His trousers were uncomfortably snug on his waist, so he opened the button and let out a shy of relief.

"Yeah. Are you having a checkup then?" Harry asked, finally catching on.

"Very astute of you Mr. Potter," Professor Snape said as he stood up and walked over to the exam table. Snape had Draco lower his trousers and then set about performing all of the usual spells to check the health of the unborn fetuses. Snape was performing these spells far more often than he originally thought he would have to, because of the complications that could arise from carrying twins and the injury caused by Mr. Weasley.

"Why didn't you tell me yesterday that you were having a checkup?" Harry asked Draco, taking Draco's hand as Draco lay on the exam table.

"Because I didn't schedule it until after potions," Draco answered. "I thought you'd be grateful that I invited you, not complaining about the short notice. If this is how you're gonna act, I won't invite you next time."

"No, no, I am grateful, really. I'm just surprised and I was worried something was wrong. Nothing's wrong, right? I mean, why did you schedule this appointment last minute?" Harry asked.

"If you must know Potter, it's because Pansy called me fat this morning," Draco answered coldly.

Harry was confused about why being fat would need an emergency appointment with a healer and he was struggling to think of what to say to that, when Professor Snape said, "Both babies are still in good health. As for your figure, we will be disguising it with a glamour and a simple expansion charm should fix your trousers."

"I've never performed either," Draco admitted. Being from a well to do family, he had never had need of expanding his clothes or glamouring his appearance.

"I've done the expansion charm before. I can fix your clothes," Harry volunteered.

"Thank you for your offer Mr. Potter. Mr. Malfoy, please arrange for Mr. Potter to adjust your trousers," Professor Snape said, pulling a thin book off of a nearby book shelf.

Draco and Harry agreed and Professor Snape proceeded to teach the two boys about all of the intricacies involved with glamour charms. By the end of half an hour, both Harry and Draco were capable of covering up Draco's baby bump with a convincing illusion of a flat stomach, although Draco was convinced his glamour was better.

"You may be excused Mr. Malfoy," Professor Snape said when he was certain his charge was proficient in glamours.

"Draco, do you want to go back to the room of requirement?" Harry asked. "I could fix all your trousers."

"No, I've got to do some homework before my tutoring session with Professor Binns tonight," Draco answered, putting his school robes back on.

"Oh, so I won't see you again today?" Harry asked disappointed.

"No, but I'll see you tomorrow," Draco replied, going to the door and picking up his school bag. "Oh and Harry?"

"Yeah?" Harry asked expectantly.

"Don't forget to use the finger extension charm on yourself," Draco said before walking out the door.

Harry stood there speechless in Professor Snape's office, turning red from embarrassment as he realized that Draco had just mentioned anal fingering in front of Professor Snape.

"You may leave, Mr. Potter," Professor Snape reminded Harry.

Harry took the hint, grabbed his backpack, and left Professor Snape's office, heading back to the common room to work on an essay with Ron and Hermione. But after dinner, Harry did go to the room of requirement and followed Draco's instructions.

* * *

Author's Note: I wrote out a big long chapter for Sunday, but then I realized that it could be summed up into two paragraphs and a shag, so I wrote this instead. Slughorn finding out about Narcissa is just the type of thing that could come back to haunt Draco…

Please Review!


	53. Chapter 53

Author's Note: This chapter has been censored. To read the full version, go to AO3; you can find the link on my profile page.

I would like to thank HarryPottersGirl2010 for reviewing the last chapter! Thank you!

* * *

Draco and Harry spent Tuesday afternoon practicing occlumency. Harry was improving, which meant Draco wasn't able to break into Harry's mind, despite Draco's hardest efforts. This both frustrated Draco, because he wanted to know what Harry was thinking, and elated Draco, because it meant Harry's thoughts were slowly becoming protected from the Dark Lord. In the end, the two feelings merged into sexual desire and when Draco gave up possessing Harry's mind, he moved on to possessing Harry's mouth with a kiss.

Harry was a bit surprised when Draco pushed Harry back with a kiss and climbed on top of Harry. Harry was even more surprised by the fact that Draco started dry humping Harry through their clothing. Harry was happy to let Draco lead the way and do whatever Draco wanted to do to Harry, but those clothes were in the way and it was worse today, because Draco was wearing a pair of trousers, which Harry had expanded the waist on, underneath Draco's robes.

The clothes had to go, so Harry started pulling up Draco's robes and unbuttoning Draco's trousers. Draco helped Harry, by ceasing the movement of his lips and the needy probing of his tongue and pulling his school robes the rest of the way off for Harry. Draco even stepped back and removed his trousers and pants in one go, giving Harry enough room to pull off Harry's school robes, before Draco was back on Harry, pushing a very hard throbbing dick into Harry's stomach and reclaiming Harry's mouth with Draco's tongue.

Harry smiled into the kiss and moved his lips sensually underneath Draco's demanding mouth, but Harry let Draco keep command of it. It felt wonderful to be snogged senseless and Draco just looked so hot and domineering above Harry. Harry's heart rate sped up as Draco's hands came to rest on first Harry's sides, at waist level, and then on the waistband of Harry's pants, as they tugged downwards. Draco's hand touched Harry's bits through and it was all over for Harry.

Draco pulled back from Harry, breaking the kiss they had been sharing, and looked at the cum on his hands. It was hot and weird at the same time and Draco felt some emotion clench at his chest for just a moment. Draco had never before had someone else's cum on his hands and he wasn't quite sure what to do about it, other than ask for a cleaning charm. And Draco was still raging hard, but Harry was quickly going soft, and Draco didn't know what to do about that either. "Cleaning charm please," Draco requested breathlessly.

Harry was still blissed out from his sudden orgasm, but he was also concerned that Draco might freak out on him. Thus Harry quickly pulled himself together and cast a cleaning charm. Draco was just hovering above Harry, looking confused, so Harry decided to take the lead and turn them over, so that Harry was on top and Draco was lying on the couch. Plus Harry didn't want to give Draco the chance to process that Harry had just had a bout of premature ejaculation.

Harry kissed Draco fiercely, claiming Draco's lips and Harry's tongue pushing into Draco's mouth for the first time that day. When Draco was red faced and panting for breath, Harry trailed his kisses down over Draco's body, stopping to pay extra attention to Draco's neck and nipples, which earned Harry a few moans from Draco. But Harry didn't stay long on Draco's body, before Harry was down between Draco's legs. Harry grabbed his wand again and cast the oral sex spells on his mouth, making his jaw open up enough to give Draco a blow job.

After the blow job, Draco took Harry into the bedroom for some anal stretching.

*Censored

* * *

While at dinner that night, Harry recruited Hermione, Ginny, and Luna to help him with the proposal. Harry probably should've asked for their help ages ago, only he had wanted to do it himself. But now Harry was running out of time and had finally admitted to himself that he needed the help. That is how Harry found himself sitting on the sofa in the sitting room of the British beach shack with Ginny, Luna, and Hermione.

"So why'd you ask us all here Harry?" Ginny asked.

"I need your help. I need to propose to my boyfriend," Harry admitted.

"Your boyfriend? The one I haven't even met and whose name I don't know?" Ginny asked skeptically.

"Yes, and you can't know: it'll be too dangerous for him when Voldemort comes after me again if everyone knows that he's seeing me," Harry explained.

"Yeah, but I'm not just anyone Harry. We've known each other for years and you know I wouldn't betray you," Ginny replied.

"I know, but still, you could be captured and tortured for information. It's safer for him if no one else knows and so many people know already. Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, and even your mum, all know," Harry said.

"It will be safer for us too if we don't know: He Who Must Not Be Named might try to capture us if he thought we had that sort of information," Luna said wisely.

"That's an excellent point Luna," Hermione replied.

"Yes," Harry agreed.

"What about proposing? I mean, you just started going out. Are you sure you want to do this so soon?" Ginny asked skeptically.

"Yes, I'm sure," Harry answered.

"But why not wait until after the danger has passed? After you've defeated You Know Who, when it's safe to tell us who he is?" Ginny asked.

"Because I might die," Harry said, before pausing to think about how to explain himself. "If I die, I want him to know how I feel about him and that I wanted to marry him. And if I don't die, I'll have a fiancé to come back to."

"Very well put," Luna said.

"But still Harry, can you at least give us a hint? What sort of person are you proposing to?" Ginny asked.

"He's a sweet, sensitive boy. He likes lilacs, sea turtles, and tropical beaches. I've met him and I can assure you that you know enough," Hermione answered for Harry, because she was tired of Ginny's questioning.

"Thank you Hermione," Harry said, grateful for the support.

"He's also spoiled, self-centered, narcissistic, vane, and obnoxious," Hermione added with a teasing grin, "but I know you love him anyway and that shouldn't factor too much into a proposal."

"And the nargles told me he has expensive tastes," Luna added.

"Well I suppose that will probably be enough information," Ginny conceded, "but is he a pureblood, muggleborn, or what? They each have their own traditions, so it really matters in something like this."

"He's pureblood; _very _pureblood," Harry answered, sniggering quietly to himself as he remembered Draco referring to himself in this way in order to explain Draco's cock size.

"Ach, he sounds like a Slytherin," Ginny said with a slight shudder.

"Well he's not a Gryffindor," Harry admitted, but didn't want to confirm that he was indeed dating a Slytherin, because he didn't want to narrow the possibilities down to five boys in his year and five more boys in the next year. If he started narrowing it down like that, it wouldn't be long before Ginny put the pieces together and figured out who he was seeing.

Hermione was about to agree that Draco was definitely not a Gryffindor, but then she caught herself and asked, "Perhaps, Harry, we should come up with a codename to call him?"

"That's an excellent idea," Luna agreed dreamily. "I've always liked the name Blondie."

Harry rejected Blondie and there was a debate on possible code names before Ginny suggested Lover Boy with an evil grin.

"I agree; Lover Boy would be an appropriate name for him," Luna seconded.

Harry was about to protest that Lover Boy sounded too insulting and raunchy, but then Hermione cut him off.

"Lover Boy it is," Hermione concluded with a grin. "Now let's continue with the meeting and our agenda of putting together a game plan for proposing to Lover Boy."

Ginny suggested all of the typical proposal ideas, such as flowers, live music, candlelight, candy, gifts, and romantic dinners, but Harry didn't want an ordinary proposal; he wanted something special.

"Oh Harry! The room of requirement would be perfect for your proposal! You could transform it into a beautiful exotic tropical paradise! Kinda like it is now, but better!" Ginny said.

"You did say he likes the tropics," Luna agreed.

"No, we do that every time we meet in here. I want something knew," Harry replied.

"You turn the room into a tropical paradise every time you meet in here? You mean, like, better than the room is now?" Ginny asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah," Harry replied. "I didn't want to invite a bunch of people into the place I share with him, so I asked for a less exotic form of our room."

"Na uh," Ginny protested.

"It's true, I've seen it. The room looked just like Hawaii," Hermione said.

"Well if the exotic is ordinary, then perhaps the ordinary will be exotic," Luna said wisely.

"The ordinary, like Lover Boy's house?" Ginny asked confused.

"His house? Hmm, that might just be perfect," Luna replied.

"Harry, do you even know what his house looks like?" Hermione asked.

"I've no idea, really, but I know a house elf I can ask to find out for me," Harry replied with a grin. "I don't think he's been home since last summer."

Ginny wanted to go on a scouting mission to Lover Boy's house to plan, but Harry rejected that idea, explaining that that was an impossibility due to safety concerns. Harry planned to turn the room of requirement into Lover Boy's house and all three witches agreed.

"Okay, this could work. I'll make his house with flowers, candlelight, and music, but I don't know what kind of music he likes," Harry admitted, thinking about the fact that neither he nor Draco had ever asked the room to play music for them and they had never danced together. But then Harry was a horrible dancer, so he didn't fancy falling on his face in front of his boyfriend.

"Well with a pureblood teenager, you could either go wizard rock or classic-pureblood-old-wizard music. It's so awful it makes my ears bleed," Ginny said, cupping her ears at the end to demonstrate how awful old pureblood music was.

"Don't be silly, my dad and I listen to pureblood operas all the time and our ears never bleed. They're quite nice, actually," Luna said.

"Okay, Luna, you can research pureblood operas and report back to us on which one sounds the most romantic and will be the easiest to dance to. Ginny, you do the same with wizard rock. And Harry, you find out whether Lover Boy fancies opera or wizard rock," Hermione ordered.

Ginny and Luna agreed.

"I can find out what kind of music he likes, but dancing? I can't dance Hermione, you know this. You saw me trip over Pavarti's feet and make a bumbling fool out of myself. I can't do that when I'm supposed to be proposing. I want this day to be magical, not awful," Harry protested.

"Night," Ginny chimed in.

"Harry, it won't be awful, really. We'll pick a song and teach you how to dance. He's going to want to have at least one dance with you; think of it as practice for the wedding," Hermione said.

"Pureblood custom does dictate that there should be a dance before the big question. Normally it's a formal ball where all the pureblood wizards and witches in the land are invited, but failing that, there should at least be one dance," Luna said, supporting Hermione.

The three witches were insistent, so Harry eventually caved. "Okay, yeah, one dance," Harry said, trying to convince himself a dance would be okay, but he was turning a bit green at the thought. What if Draco expected Harry to be a good dancer? What if Draco wanted a partner on his arm on the dance floor at pureblood formal balls all the time? What if Harry couldn't do it and let Draco down?

"That's the spirit!" Luna exclaimed, as if Harry had joyfully agreed.

"Why do you look so green Harry?" Hermione asked concerned.

"I don't think I have time to learn a dance. I'm bloody awful at dancing and I have less than three weeks before I need to propose," Harry replied.

"Three weeks? Why so soon?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Something is happening in three weeks and I need to propose _before_ then," Harry answered cryptically.

"That is cutting it a bit tight, but if I get you a charm to ward off the dabberblimps, then you'll be alright," Luna said.

"Well it's tight, but you'll just have to work extra hard and get it down. If you can be graceful on the Quidditch pitch, you can be graceful on the dance floor," Ginny said with determination.

"And if I'm not ready, I can always cut the dance out and just do the rest of the proposal," Harry acquiesced.

"That won't be necessary and just think how wonderful it'll be when you sweep Lover Boy off his feet in your first dance," Luna said dreamily.

"Actually, it might be better if Lover Boy led in the dance," Hermione said thoughtfully. "Harry, no offense, but you're a right awful dancer. Maybe that's because you're meant to follow, not to lead."

"No offense taken," Harry reassured his friend. "Yeah, I never really felt right leading Pavarti in that dance. I would feel better if he takes charge of the dance and leads me."

"Yes, I think Harry should let Lover Boy be dominant on the dance floor; I know he's got the moves," Luna said, picturing a sexy, but faceless Lover Boy twirling Harry around on the dance floor.

"Yeah, I think that'll work, but how are you going to teach me to dance if he's not there and he's leading?" Harry asked.

"We'll just have to teach you a dance he already knows," Hermione answered.

"There are several standard pureblood dances that will work. I know three popular ones for operas," Luna said.

"Yeah, popular in the thirteen hundreds," Ginny replied. "I know dozens of dance moves for popular modern wizard rock songs."

"Well you both can work on that and get back to us and Harry will figure out what kind of music Lover Boy would prefer and then we'll meet up again and start dance lessons," Hermione concluded. "But Ginny, what did you mean when you said night?"

"Huh?" Ginny asked, not remembering what Hermione was talking about.

"Harry said something about doing this proposal in the day, and you corrected him and said night," Hermione clarified.

"Oh that; pureblood proposals are traditionally done in the evening. There's a dinner, then a ball, then a starlight proposal," Ginny answered.

"That sounds wonderful," Harry said dreamily, just picturing Draco surrounded by stars. They had spent the evening together several times and even a few nights, but they had never gone outside to look at the stars; the thought had never occurred to Harry, since they were still inside the castle.

"So we have our plan," Hermione concluded, clapping her hands with a smile on her face.

"Oh, but what I really need help with is what to say. I need a speech that will make him say yes," Harry said, thinking that coming up with the right speech would be even harder than learning to dance.

Hermione suggested finding a poem, but Luna didn't think Lover Boy was into poetry and Harry had no indication that Luna was wrong. Ginny wondered where Luna was getting her information and Luna cited the nargles. Then Hermione suggested Harry confess his undying love, but Harry had already tried that the first time, so he shot it down.

"Harry, are you worried he'll say no if you don't have the right words?" Hermione asked.

"Well I don't think he'll say no, but I think he'll say yes for the wrong reasons," Harry admitted.

"Because you're the boy who lived and not because you're the boy who loves him?" Ginny asked.

That wasn't quite it, but it was close enough, so Harry nodded; he couldn't tell Ginny and Luna about the babies.

"Oh Harry, I don't think that's it at all. He'd be much happier if you weren't the boy who lived; if you were just Harry," Luna said.

"Thanks Luna," Harry replied with a grin. Somehow Luna always knew the right thing to say to cheer him up.

"Alright, so we'll have to write the perfect speech. Harry, you brainstorm all of the things you love about him, the things you've done together, and the things you want for your future together. Don't do it now, just get back to me on it," Hermione said, knowing that this would be too much information to divulge in front of Ginny and Luna. "Once you have your list, I'll help you with a speech."

"It sounds like everything is planned out and we all have our assignments," Luna concluded.

The others agreed and the meeting broke apart, so that they could each complete their assignment. The three girls left, while Harry stayed there and called Dobby to ask for details on Draco's home and music tastes. Dobby, apologizing incessantly, informed Harry that Dobby didn't know what type of music Draco preferred and that Narcissa would be likely to know. Then there was a very long winded conversation in which Dobby tried to describe the Malfoy Manor. Eventually Harry decided that it would be easier, and better for his sanity, if they left the room of requirement and Dobby asked the room to make Malfoy Manor. And that is exactly what they did.

Harry re-entered the room of requirement after Dobby to find a beautiful well-manicured lawn bordered with a tall hedge. They walked further in and saw more of the sprawling estate and a large ornate manor with very pointy rooftops. There were a few peacocks pecking at the grass and a rose garden off to one side, passed the wrought iron fence. They went inside the house, which was filled with marble, gold, numerous portrait frames, and way too many ornate carvings. Dobby led Harry upstairs to Draco's bedroom, which featured a giant four poster bed with dark red curtains and matching blanket.

"Are you sure this is Draco's bedroom? I don't think he likes red," Harry said.

"Yes, sir. This is the way Draco Malfoy, sir's, bedroom looked sir, back when I was a Malfoy house elf," Dobby answered.

"Has he always had a red blanket?" Harry wondered.

"No sir. The blanket was covered in black dragons when Draco Malfoy, sir, was a child, sir. The curtains were black too, sir. The dragons had the most sinister look on their faces as they moved about the comforter, sir, like the dragons were going to eat Dobby, sir. Dobby was always frightened, sir, because of the bed stories Lucius Malfoy, sir, would tell about dragons eating house elves, sir."

"That's awful Dobby."

"It is part of nature, sir."

"When did the blankets change to red Dobby?" Harry asked.

Dobby informed Harry that Draco had started liking red around the age of twelve.

"Oh…And has it always been this bed? It looks ancient," Harry said, examining the carvings in the dark wood. He thought they would be dragons, to match the childhood bed set, but they were scenes of a river running through a forest and forest animals. The carvings were animated and the animals galloped, trotted, and hopped, while the river flowed, and the boughs bent in the wind.

"Yes, sir. This bed has been in the Malfoy family for generations, sir."

Harry looked around and took in the nightstand, a trunk, two dressers, armoire, bookshelf, and large mirror all in the same wood and style as the bed, with the same moving forest carvings. There was a Quidditch poster on the wall and an older model Nimbus broom in the corner, as well as an oil painting of a fire-breathing dragon on the opposite wall. There was also a black stuffed dragon on the nightstand, next to a crystal water pitcher, decorated with a gold inlayed M. Then there was a marble fireplace, with a pair of gold candlesticks on top, and a deep red rug, that matched the current bedspread. The room looked old and ancient, but also warm and childlike at the same time.

Harry went over to the chest and opened it to find toys, instead of the school robes he thought he would find. The chest must have had a wizard-space charm on it, because it was clearly much bigger on the inside than the space it took up on the outside. It was completely filled with toys and Harry spent a good chunk of time looking through all of the toys for proposal ideas. But it was getting late, Harry still had homework to do, and he wasn't getting any ideas from the toys, so he moved on.

Next Harry went over to Draco's bookshelf. Harry looked through the titles and even stopped and read several of the shorter children's stories. Harry spent so much time reading the children's books that it was late now and he still hadn't gotten any inspiration from the room, so he had Dobby lead him outside to the rose garden.

The garden was on the side of the house and there was a beautiful gazebo in the middle, with gorgeous flowers trailing on vines up to the top of the structure, but it was still open enough to see the sky. There was a small table with two chairs inside the gazebo, which Harry sat down at and looked up into the roof of the room of requirement to see a sky full of stars. Harry looked out onto the garden and saw a large magnolia tree in bloom with large pink flowers. Underneath the tree was row after row of blooming rose bushes.

"This is perfect," Harry whispered.

* * *

Author's Note: The proposal is starting to come together. The next chapter will be an important one where Draco's scheming comes back to bite him and Ron finally gets the chance to redeem himself.


	54. Chapter 54

Author's Notes: No censorship was needed in this chapter.

* * *

Ron was out on the lawn near the Black Lake when he saw two middle aged women approaching the school. Ron was unconcerned, so he turned back to Dean and Seamus and the discussion they were having on which was the fastest broom out of next season's models: the new Nimbus or the latest Firebolt. But then Seamus squinted in the direction of the unknown women and asked, "Oi, isn't that one that's built like a whale Goyle's mum? It's no wonder he's so fat and ugly when his mum looks like a troll. If it were me mum, I'd ask her not to go out in public."

"That's not nice," Dean said.

"That is Goyle's mum," Ron said, turning and taking another look at the women and recognizing them this time. Growing up in the wizarding community, he'd seen both of these women before. "And that's Parkinson's mum with her!"

"Wonder what Goyle and Parkinson've done to bring their mums down on 'em!" Seamus replied with a laugh.

"I saw them snogging in the corridor outside the library last week," Dean said, raising his eyebrows in a silent suggestion that the two in question might be sexually active.

"Mate, that's Bulstrode, not Parkinson, Goyle was snoggin'!" Seamus replied laughing loudly.

"Well one looks like a toad and the other one looks like a pug, so it's hard to tell," Ron said with a chortle and Dean joined in the laughter as well.

The women were making slow progress, because of Mrs. Goyle's enormous size. While the three boys watched the slow waddle of the women towards the castle, it occurred to Ron that two Slytherin parents showing up at the castle might be something Professor Snape should know about. Ron was still in detention with Professor Snape every evening and he was keenly aware of the professor's spying activity, which he knew to be important to the war effort. Ron wasn't sure if this was something important, but it couldn't hurt to give Professor Snape a heads up that the women were on their way. Thus Ron decided to warn Snape.

"I just remembered I forgot something. I'll see you guys later," Ron said to Dean and Seamus before running off towards the castle at about a hundred times the speed of Mrs. Goyle and Mrs. Parkinson.

When Ron was running through the corridor outside the Great Hall, he nearly slammed into Malfoy, who was coming out of the Great Hall, heading for the dungeons.

"Watch it Weasley," Draco sneered. It was still hours before dinner, but he had just eaten his usual afternoon snack, which was easier to do in the Great Hall when he wasn't in the room of requirement.

"Oh, um, I didn't see you there," Ron said, stopping to make sure Malfoy was alright, since he now knew that Malfoy was pregnant by Harry. Ron was just barely on speaking terms with Harry again and he didn't want to mess that up by hurting Harry's boyfriend. But then Ron wasn't supposed to be nice to Malfoy in public and no one was supposed to know about Malfoy's pregnancy, so Ron didn't know how to ask if Malfoy was alright with three third year girls watching them nearby.

"That's obvious. Maybe you should get Potter to lend you his glasses, since your eyesight is so atrocious," Draco replied snidely.

While Malfoy was insulting Ron, it occurred to Ron that Malfoy might want to know about the mums slowly making their way towards the castle. "Hey, did you know Goyle and Parkinson's mums are here?" Ron asked.

"No, they are?" Draco asked, turning pale as he processed what this would mean for him and not even remembering to pick a fight with Weasley in front of their audience. Draco couldn't think of any reason why both Mrs. Goyle and Mrs. Parkinson would come, unless it was for him, because they were the emergency contacts his parents had listed on his registration card for Hogwarts. Grandmother Druella wasn't on the list, because she was too old to make the journey.

"Yeah, I just saw them out on the front lawn by the lake. They're going about as fast as a snail, so I thought I'd run in and tell Snape," Ron replied.

"Well yeah, you go do that," Draco said, before taking off at a slow run for the room of requirement.

Ron watched Malfoy go and almost snickered at the weird waddle-like run Malfoy was affecting. 'Just how pregnant is he? He doesn't even look pregnant yet,' Ron thought to himself. But then he ran off to the dungeons to warn Professor Snape.

Draco wasn't supposed to meet Harry today, because Harry said he was way behind on his homework. But with Mrs. Goyle and Mrs. Parkinson descending on the school, Draco couldn't give a doxy's fart about Harry's homework. Thus Draco pulled out his charmed coin as soon as he was safely inside the room of requirement. Draco tapped the coin with his wand and the words, "ROR Now Emergency," appeared on the coin. Emergency was written at the bottom in such small font it was hard to make out, so Draco hoped Harry could read it.

Draco set his school bag down by the door to the room of requirement and set about pacing back and forth through the dining patio, down the walkway to the front door of the beach hut, and back to the door of the room of requirement. Draco continued to pace until Harry came through the door and took Draco in Harry's arms.

Harry had run straight to the room of requirement after reading the message on the coin. "Draco, what's wrong? Is there something wrong with the babies or your mum? Is it your dad or Voldemort?" Harry asked hurriedly, hugging Draco's body tightly to his own. Harry knew that Draco had been pacing, which meant the babies were probably fine and Harry relaxed a little at the thought.

"No, it's none of that," Draco replied, grabbing hold of Harry and returning the embrace.

"Then what is it?"

"Greg and Pansy's mothers are here," Draco answered.

"Well are they in trouble for something?"

"Not that I know of."

"Then why are they here?"

"I think they're here for me."

"Why?"

"Because the Goyles and the Parkinsons are the next in line on my emergency contact form after my mother and all of the Death Eaters are discounted," Draco answered.

"Oh… Why would they be here for you now? Have you gotten another letter from your dad?"

"No… I don't know why they're here."

"Do you want me to go down with you while you find out? I could wear my cloak and be next to you the entire time," Harry offered.

"No, I don't want to see them. I want to hide until they go away."

"Don't you think that will cause more problems? What if they report back to your dad that they went to the school and you weren't here? What if they accuse Snape of hiding you and compromise his cover? They're not Death Eaters, just mums, what's the worst they could do?"

"They could figure out I'm pregnant."

"How? No one else has figured it out and you've got that glamour covering your tiny belly."

"No one else has figured it out because I'm in a dorm full of kids, not mothers. My mother can clock a glamour a mile away; I bet Mrs. Parkinson and Mrs. Goyle can do the same. And what if they want to offer me a motherly hug, to comfort me over the loss of my mother? They might _feel_ my stomach, even if they can't _see _my stomach."

Harry ran his hand over Draco's stomach, trying to determine how noticeable the bulge was. Harry had to admit that he could feel the roundness protruding, even if he couldn't see it… Harry's hand caught on the glamour as he passed over it and his hand flickered as a result.

"See?" Draco asked, convinced his body had made his point for him. "It's better if I don't let them see me at all and then they won't be able to figure it out. Besides, I could always get morning sickness or something worse than the glamour could give me away. It'll be much safer to stay here."

"And what is Snape gonna tell them when he can't find you?" Harry asked concerned.

"That I snuck out of the castle again looking for my mother," Draco said, before something else occurred to him and he grew pale at the new thought.

"What? What is it Draco?" Harry asked concerned.

"Pansy and Greg know I've been visiting mother. Mrs. Parkinson and Mrs. Goyle will know mother is missing; they used to be best friends and have tea together practically every _day_. If they talk to their kids about me then my friends, my father, and even the Dark Lord will find out that I know where mother is hiding! I'm screwed."

"Shite!" Harry exclaimed as this revelation sunk in. "I wish I was down there with a pair of extendable ears and knew what was going on."

"What ears?" Draco asked.

"Extendable ears. Fred and George make them; they're brilliant for listening in," Harry answered, trying to think of what to do. He wanted to grab his cloak, sneak down to Snape's office, and use the extendable ears to listen to what was going on. But, he didn't even know for sure that the women would be in Snape's office, which meant he would have to use his map to find out. Then it occurred to him that figuring out where the women were and who was with them might help him decide what to do. "I wanna get my map and check where they are."

"Yeah, okay," Draco said, letting go of Harry.

Harry led Draco to the dining table where they sat down and studied the map properly. Harry found Mrs. Parkinson and Mrs. Goyle with Professor Snape in Snape's office, but without Greg Goyle and Pansy Parkinson. The three of them being together alone held with Draco's hypothesis that the women were there to see Draco, not their own children. Harry started thinking about going down there to spy on them, but didn't want to leave Draco up here by himself, so Harry thought of calling Hermione. Harry reached into his pocket looking for the coin that was charmed for communication with Hermione.

"What's Weasley doing in the cupboard?" Draco asked, examining Professor Snape's office on the map.

"What cupboard?" Harry asked, pulling the correct coin out and looking first at the coin, then at Draco, and finally at the map, where Ron's dot was seen in the potion cupboard in Snape's office. "He must be spying on them!"

"With those ear things?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, probably."

Suddenly Draco remembered the time outside of Slughorn's potion class when Harry, Hermione, and Ron had been spying on Draco. Ron had looked like he was shoving something in his backpack when Draco came out of the classroom. "Did you use those ear things to spy on me that day in potion's class?" Draco accused.

"Yeah, but that pair was Ron's. He keeps them in his backpack pretty much all the time. But why is Ron even down there? Why would he even be in Snape's office when the mums arrived?" Harry wondered.

"Oh, he was outside and saw them come in. He's the one who warned me that they were here," Draco admitted with a shrug of his shoulders.

Harry smiled at the thought that Ron was back on Harry's side and helping to protect Draco. "I think we should call Hermione to help. She can go down there and find out what's going on and come back up here and tell us," Harry said.

"Or you can ask Dobby to spy for you. He'll be quieter and less likely to get caught," Draco replied.

"Okay, but I'd still like to get Hermione here. She's good with figuring out what to do."

"Fine, I'll summon Hermione and you get Dobby," Draco said, knowing that Harry was on much better terms with the house elf than Draco was. Dobby was quick about getting Draco food and pumpkin juice, but the stupid thing had flat out refused to press Draco's dress robes for him, even though they would wrinkle otherwise.

"Dobby!" Harry called and the elf apparated in, while Draco grabbed the coin out of Harry's hand and tapped it with his wand making the words, "ROR Now," appear on the coin.

Dobby appeared and Harry asked Dobby to spy on Snape. Dobby, as a Hogwarts house elf, couldn't spy on a Hogwarts teacher. Thus Harry dismissed Dobby and the house elf disappeared with a crack.

"So much for my idea, I guess we're going with Hermione then," Draco said, looking up at Harry and placing the coin back in Harry's hand.

"Yeah, let's go to the sitting room to wait," Harry suggested

Once sitting on the sofa together, Harry pulled Draco's school robes off, leaving Draco in just his trousers, and started massaging Draco's back, to help relieve his boyfriend of the tension that was running through Draco's body. Draco even removed the glamour from his stomach, letting the pouch hang out, which made Harry smile as he thought about their two babies growing inside of Draco.

Harry had barely started the backrub when he heard the knock on the door that must be Hermione. "I'll get it," Harry said, standing up.

Draco nodded and grabbed his school robes, pulling them back over his head, while Harry went to let Hermione in, although he didn't bother recasting the glamour. Less than a minute later Harry was reclaiming the seat next to Draco and Hermione was sitting on the loveseat. While Harry explained the situation to Hermione, Draco noticed that the three adults left Professor Snape's office, heading towards the Slytherin common room.

"They're going to my common room; probably to look for me," Draco said.

Harry and Hermione stopped their discussion on spying and looked back at the map. The three of them watched as Ron's dot left the cupboard and started flying through the castle so quickly Ron must be running. The dot didn't stop until it was in Gryffindor tower, where Harry and Hermione were supposed to be.

"He must be looking for us," Harry said.

"I'll go get him," Hermione suggested.

Harry agreed and Hermione left, leaving Harry and Draco alone once more.

It was only a few minutes before Hermione was back, with Ron this time, and knocking on the door to the room of requirement. Harry once again got up to let them in.

Ron sat down where Hermione had been sitting and Hermione took a seat on the other side of Draco. Harry went back to his place next to Draco.

"So what'd you find out?" Harry asked Ron.

This was the first time Ron had seen Harry and Draco together and Ron was finding it hard not to stare at the two as Harry ran his hands up and down Draco's back. Up until now Ron had been able to pretend that these two weren't really together, but now the relationship was right in front of his face and he had to admit it was real. Ron pulled his eyes away from Harry's hands and looked at Harry's face, blinking a few times while he tried to figure out how to answer that question.

"Mrs. Parkinson and Mrs. Goyle are here to check on Malfoy. Professor Slughorn wrote them and Malfoy's grandmum all letters saying that Malfoy's mum is missing and that according to the school's paperwork, that means Malfoy is to be released to Parkinson or Goyle and then taken to old Mrs. Black, or to stay with either the Parkinsons or the Goyles," Ron finally answered.

"Oh shite," Draco groaned. His conversation with Slughorn this Monday was coming back to bite him on the arse.

"What is it Draco?" Harry asked.

"This is my fault. Monday when I was trying to get out of that detention with Professor Slughorn, I mentioned that my mother is missing. That must've started this off," Draco answered, bringing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them, with his school robes sandwiched in between. "Now they'll talk to Pansy and Greg and find out that I've been in contact with mother and then it'll get back to father and the Dark Lord, who believe mother to be missing. I'm screwed."

"It'll be alright. We'll figure something out," Harry said, reassuring his boyfriend with a kiss to the cheek and wrapping his arms around Draco.

"Did they say anything else Ron?" Hermione asked, as she watched the three dots on the map move through the Slytherin dungeons into the boys' dormitory, where they stopped next to Gregory Goyle's dot.

"The mums said they're not leaving until they see Malfoy and make sure he's alright. They're worried about how he's been holding up with no parents. They didn't know his mum was missing; they thought she was with You-Know-Who. They seem to want to comfort Malfoy and assure him that he can stay with them during the summer until his mother is found. And they said they were there to deliver a message from his grandmum that she expects him at her house," Ron answered, sneaking glances at Harry and Malfoy, but trying not to stare.

Up until now, Draco hadn't considered the possibility that Grandmother Druella could be in danger, because she was Aunt Bella's mother too, but now he began to worry that his last remaining grandparent was in danger.

"What did Professor Snape say?" Hermione asked.

"Snape said Malfoy's been sneaking off the grounds looking for his mum and has been caught by various teachers loads of times. He said that Malfoy had been upset and stressed out, but making do," Ron answered.

"Well that doesn't sound too bad," Harry replied. "If Goyle and Pansy don't mention that Draco's been visiting his mum, then this might all blow over."

"Harry, Goyle is talking to Professor Snape and the mums right now," Hermione said.

"Shite," Draco said, looking at the map and sure enough, Greg was with the three adults in their dormitory.

Harry asked Hermione, "How long have they been in there together?"

"Less than five minutes," Hermione answered.

"Look, why doesn't Malfoy just tell his friends he lied about seeing his mum?" Ron asked as they all watched the map closely, even though the dots weren't moving and nothing was happening.

"Then what has he been doing when he's gone?" Harry asked.

"Simple: he's been leaving the grounds to search for his mum, like Snape said," Ron supplied.

"Yes, that could work," Hermione agreed.

"Draco, what do you think?" Harry asked.

"It might work. Greg and Vince'll buy it, but I'm not so sure about Pansy. She'll know I've been happy lately, not upset," Draco answered.

"Well Pansy's a girl; she'll be more understanding. Just tell her Voldemort scared your mum so she went into hiding. She's still on Voldemort's side, but she just can't stand to look at him anymore," Hermione said.

"Yeah, play on her girl feelings," Ron added.

"Girl feelings? Honestly Ronald," Hermione replied.

"What do you think?" Harry asked Draco.

"It could work. Pansy knows my mother has a weaker constitution, especially when it comes to killing and torturing. The question is whether she'll agree to keep quiet and not tell her mother or anyone else," Draco answered.

After that they all watched the map in silence, while they waited for something to happen. It was a full ten minutes later before Professor Snape and Mrs. Parkinson left the boys dormitory, leaving Goyle and Mrs. Goyle behind. Mrs. Parkinson and Professor Snape went back into the common room and met with all of the Slytherins in their year that happened to be there, as well as a few of the other students. After about ten additional minutes, Professor Snape and Mrs. Parkinson left the Slytherin common room and started walking through the halls, heading first to the library, where they stopped and met with more students.

"I can't take this anymore; I want to know what they're saying," Ron said, breaking the silence. "I'm gonna go back down and spy again."

"Take my cloak," Harry offered, indicating the dining patio where he had discarded his backpack with his cloak inside.

"Right, thanks. I'll be back when I know more," Ron said, walking out the door of the hut. Ron found Harry's cloak and left the room of requirement, to continue his spying.

Draco, Harry, and Hermione stayed where they were and watched the map. It wasn't long before they saw Ron's dot trailing behind the two adults in the library as they appeared to be questioning students. Draco glanced back at the dungeons and saw that Mrs. Goyle was still with Greg in their dorm. "They must've left Greg's mother behind so they could move faster," Draco said, referring to the large size and the slow walk of the woman.

"Does she walk slowly?" Hermione asked. Neither she nor Harry had ever seen the woman before.

"Yes," Draco answered, but left it at that, because he had better manners than to call his friend's mother fat.

The three of them watched the map quietly again after that. Nothing happened until Mrs. Parkinson and Snape left the library and went to the Great Hall, which was empty, because it was well before dinner time. After that they checked all of the ground floor corridors, classrooms, and courtyards. They stopped and talked to Filch and Hagrid, before moving up to the next floor and doing the same thing. Every once in a while they would run into Slytherins or Professors that they would stop and speak to for a moment, but they kept moving upwards at a steady pace.

Harry, Draco, and Hermione held their collective breaths as Professor Snape and Mrs. Parkinson came off the landing for the seventh floor and walked towards the room of requirement. They stopped in the hallway right outside the room to talk to the Bloody Baron and Ron's dot could be seen right up against the door to the room of requirement, like Ron meant to block the door with his invisible body to prevent the adults from getting in.

"Draco, did you make this room accessible to Snape?" Harry asked worried.

"Yeah, I always do," Draco answered, with a gulp, wishing the room would block itself off from Professor Snape.

"The door handle is probably visible to him then," Harry replied.

"But it looks like Ron is physically barricading the door, so Snape will have to go through Ron first before he can get in here," Hermione said.

"And I'll protect you too. If they come in, you and Hermione can go hide and I'll go out and tell them that I'm the only one here," Harry said. He didn't want to get into a discussion about Ron when Draco was already distressed, but he was privately glad his friend had come around and seemed to be trying to protect Draco. Merlin, if it weren't for Ron spotting the mums and warning Draco in the first place, this would have all turned out very differently. Harry would have to thank Ron later.

The group of adults moved on without knocking on or opening the door and Ron followed. Snape and Mrs. Parkinson continued walking through the school until they were in the Astronomy tower, where they stopped to talk to Blaise and Pansy's dots.

"They like to snog in the Astronomy tower," Draco stated.

Hermione and Harry nodded. This was the longest conversation yet, because the four dots stayed still for twenty minutes before Snape and Mrs. Parkinson started moving back down again. It wasn't long after that when they heard a knock on the door and noticed that Ron's dot was alone in the corridor just outside. Hermione got up to let Ron in and then they were once again all sitting together on the sofas.

"Well, what did you find out?" Harry asked.

"They were searching the castle for Malfoy," Ron answered. "They asked Hagrid to search the grounds, Filch to search the owlery, and McGonagall and Flitwick to ask around and see if anyone has seen him."

"Anything else?" Harry asked.

"Snape mentioned that Malfoy had better not have snuck off the grounds again to look for his mum," Ron replied. "He kept talking about all these detentions he keeps giving Draco for sneaking off and that it'll be another week's worth of detentions for this."

"What about in the Astronomy tower when they met up with Blaise and Pansy?" Draco asked.

"Mrs. Parkinson spent a long time talking to Parkinson about school and Zabini and mother stuff. Snape asked both Parkinson and Zabini if they'd seen you. They said no, but they said that if you had taken off, it was to work on a project You-Know-Who gave you. Did he give you a project Malfoy?" Ron asked.

"Yes, and I turned it over to Professor Snape to figure out, who took it to Dumbledore, who ordered Snape to do it for me. I've been telling Blaise and Pansy that that's what I'm doing when I'm really with Harry," Draco answered.

"Oh," Ron replied. He had thought that Draco might be betraying Harry's trust and might secretly be a Death Eater, but if Dumbledore knew, then that was good enough for Ron.

"Did anyone say anything about me visiting my mother or my mother being missing?" Draco asked, because this was what he was really worried about.

"No, nothing about your mum when Parkinson and Zabini were there," Ron answered.

"Good," Draco replied, relaxing a bit into Harry's arms.

"Right, well we're not getting anywhere sitting around here watching those dots on the map; we should pull out our homework and wait for Mrs. Goyle and Mrs. Parkinson to leave," Hermione said.

No one really wanted to do homework when there was only an hour left before dinner and there was still a dangerous situation unfolding around them in the castle. But Ron still had detention with Professor Snape after dinner and Harry had a meeting with Ginny, Luna, and Hermione after dinner to discuss proposal plans, and Draco had a ton of homework to finish, so the three boys reluctantly agreed and pulled out their homework.

Hermione put down her quill five minutes before dinner time and said, "We have to go to dinner or someone will notice that the four of us are missing."

"Yeah, alright, but are Mrs. Parkinson and Mrs. Goyle still in the castle?" Harry asked, putting down his own quill and checking the map. Harry found the women in Professor Snape's office without Professor Snape. Harry pointed to their dots, to draw the other's attention to them. "They're still here."

"I can't go down until they leave," Draco said.

"Well you stay up here and call Dobby to bring you dinner and we'll go down to dinner," Harry said.

"Yeah, okay," Draco agreed.

"And you can keep my map with you and check where the mums are, so you'll know when it's safe to come out," Harry said, pushing his map towards Draco.

"Really?" Draco asked surprised.

"Really. Just remember to tap it and say mischief managed when you're done, so you don't get caught with it," Harry replied.

"And if I need to reopen it again?" Draco asked.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Harry answered.

"Thanks," Draco replied, realizing that Harry was entrusting him with one of Harry's most prized possession.

Harry gave Draco a soft kiss goodbye and then Harry, Hermione, and Ron gathered their things and left Draco alone in the room of requirement, while they went down to dinner in the Great Hall.

Ginny sat down next to them and asked, "Did you hear Malfoy's missing? Snape's got the whole school looking for him, even the ghosts and the portraits."

"No, we didn't hear. We've been studying in the room of requirement all afternoon," Hermione replied. "What's going on? Why are they looking for him?"

"Well apparently Goyle and Parkinson's mums showed up wanting to see him and Professor Snape couldn't find him. He searched the entire castle and asked all of the teachers to help him and still nothing. Hagrid was telling me about it when I was down by the Quidditch pitch," Ginny replied.

Dean and Seamus joined in the conversation with their hypothesis as to where Malfoy had taken off to, which involved sneaking off of school grounds to do something shady for You-Know-Who.

When dinner finished, Ron went off to detention, while Harry and Hermione went to an abandoned classroom on the seventh floor, to await the arrival of Ginny and Luna. Hermione had suggested meeting in the classroom, since Draco was currently occupying the room of requirement. They were only there a minute and had just finished moving the desks around to give them room to practice dancing when Luna and Ginny arrived.

"So did you find out what kind of music he likes?" Ginny asked.

"I owled his mum and she said wizard rock," Harry answered with a smile. He was happy that he had gotten an answer back so quickly, although he was scared about learning to dance, because he thought he'd be horrible at it.

"That's great. I'm still working on finding the perfect song, but we can practice with a popular song that I really like. I brought it with me," Ginny said, pulling a wireless wizarding radio out of her backpack. It took her a few minutes to fiddle with the settings, but she eventually got it to play the rock love song.

Harry wasn't so sure he liked the song at first, because it was loud and blaring. It sounded like the lyrics were being screamed at him, but then he started picking up some of the words about love and snogging and decided it was alright. Ginny, Hermione, and Luna spent the next hour teaching Harry one basic dance move, before stopping for the night.

"I've been researching pureblood marriage proposals. I'm just waiting on Harry's list," Hermione said, as they gathered their scattered possessions back into their backpacks.

"I'm working on it. I owled his mum and found out his tastes in music and turned the room of requirement into his house. He's got a garden full of roses that'll be perfect for the proposal," Harry said.

"That's great. I've been listening to loads of songs, even though I haven't picked the perfect song yet. And I'll be working on dance moves," Ginny added.

"I've been sorting through wizard operas, but I guess if he likes rock, then there's no need," Luna said.

"It's okay Luna, I still appreciate the help. I'm sure there's something else you can help with," Harry replied.

"I could help plan the dinner," Luna suggested.

"Um, I was just gonna get a house elf to arrange the dinner," Harry said.

"Oh…well I could perform the ritual séance to keep the wackspurts and dabberblimps away," Luna suggested.

Harry looked at Hermione, silently questioning her about how he should answer, because he had never heard of a séance needing to be performed before a marriage proposal. Hermione just shrugged, so Harry decided it wouldn't hurt if he let Luna perform her wacky séance. "Sure Luna, that'd be great," Harry said.

After that they agreed to meet every night for an hour to practice dancing, before splitting up. Luna went off to her common room, while Ginny, Harry, and Hermione went back to Gryffindor tower to finish their homework.

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Author's Note: So what did you think? Goyle's mum is going home, but Pansy's mum will be back tomorrow.

Please review!


	55. Chapter 55

Author's Note: No censorship was needed in this chapter. Thank you ZianaSue for your review!

* * *

Draco stayed in the room of requirement Wednesday evening, because Mrs. Goyle and Mrs. Parkinson hadn't left the castle. He ate a dinner that was provided by Dobby and spent most of his time doing homework, although he did check Harry's map every hour or so. Draco noted that Mrs. Goyle and Mrs. Parkinson had migrated to the headmaster's office, where they were probably communicating with Professor Dumbledore, who was also present. But there was nothing Draco could do about that except wait them out.

Draco didn't mean to spy on Harry, but this was the first time he'd been left alone with Harry's map and he decided to check on Harry. Draco found the Harry labeled dot in a spare classroom outside Gryffindor tower with Hermione, Ginny Weasley, and Luna Lovegood. Draco knew Hermione was Harry's best friend, but he had no idea what Harry could be doing alone with the three girls when Harry was supposed to be doing homework.

'If he has time to fool around with his friends, why doesn't he have time for me?' Draco asked himself.

If it were just Hermione, Draco would assume they were studying or doing homework together and wanted some place quiet to work, but that couldn't be it, because Weasley and Lovegood weren't in their year. Draco thought about it, but couldn't gain any insight into why Weasley and Lovegood labeled dots were bouncing around the room with the Potter, and Granger labeled dots. And just why were the dots bumbling around the room so much? They weren't sitting and studying or standing still and talking, that was for sure, so what were they doing?

It was suspicious, but Draco decided to trust Harry and let it go. If Harry had decided he wanted to spend the night with the girls and not Draco, then Draco wasn't going to say anything about it. Instead, Draco took one last look at Dumbledore's office, where Mrs. Parkinson and Mrs. Goyle were still located, before going back to his homework.

The next time Draco checked the map, it was eight thirty and Mrs. Goyle and Mrs. Parkinson were no longer in the headmaster's office. Before Draco could let out a sigh of relief, he checked Professor Snape's office, which was where he found the mothers and Snape.

With a put-upon sigh, Draco went into the loo and took a long bath in the large tub. While he was getting ready for bed, he checked the map one last time. Sure enough, the mothers were _still_ in Professor Snape's office, so Draco accepted defeat and lay down in the beach bedroom with the map and his wand. He wondered about what Harry was doing and decided to check the map for Harry again.

Harry was in his common room next to Hermione and Weasley, the boy Weasley this time. The dots were not moving and Draco took that to mean that Harry was not on his way over. Draco thought about signaling Harry and asking Harry to come over, but Draco had already taken up Harry's entire afternoon and if Harry was as behind in his homework as Harry said he was, then Draco didn't want to disturb Harry. Thus Draco put the map on the nightstand and went to sleep alone in the room of requirement.

Draco checked the map the next morning and found that no one was in Professor Snape's or the headmaster's offices. Draco thought it would be safe to go to class, but before Draco went down for breakfast, he decided to check the entire school for Mrs. Parkinson and Mrs. Goyle. They weren't in the Great Hall, so Draco was hopeful that the coast was clear. After checking the entire castle, Draco decided to check the grounds outside the castle and found their two dots with Hagrid by the front gate.

"Blasted bloody bugger," Draco muttered to himself as he realized that he would have to spend another day in hiding and would miss his classes. He had defense and ancient runes today and he didn't want to miss either class, but he couldn't go and risk being spotted and potentially handed over to Greg and Pansy's mothers.

Dealing with the situation as best he could, Draco called Dobby to bring him breakfast, before pulling out his books and studying. He checked the map several times throughout the morning. The mothers started out in the headmaster's office, but by the time Professor Snape's class was done, Draco could no longer locate them on the map. Draco hoped that they had left school grounds for good, but he wasn't sure, so he stayed put.

Draco doubled checked the map for the mothers and noticed Harry back in the Gryffindor common room. It was then Draco remembered that Harry had a free period every day before lunch, so Draco pulled out his charmed coin and tapped it, making the words, "ROR Now," appear on it.

Less than a minute later the words changed to read, "Can I bring Ron?" The font size was tiny, but it was there. Draco thought about it for a minute and decided that Weasley might have additional information from Weasley's spying efforts the previous day or might volunteer himself up to do some more spying on Draco's behalf today. Draco tapped the coin again, changing it to read, "Yes."

Draco went into the beach bedroom and changed into shorts and a white muggle shirt. Both clothing items weren't his, although they were large enough to fit his growing waist. He was just pulling down the muggle shirt when he heard the door open. He forgot about casting his usual glamour and went outside to greet Harry instead.

Harry embraced Draco and kissed Draco on the lips, fully aware of the fact that Ron was watching them. Harry was torn between putting on a show for Ron and not letting Ron see such a private moment. In the end, the kiss was cut short, but not eliminated.

"I was just gonna go sit on the beach," Draco said, turning his head to look at the waves.

"Yeah, okay," Harry agreed.

They all walked to the beach and sat down in the sand.

Ron noticed that Malfoy looked very fat today, when yesterday Malfoy had looked just as skinny as Malfoy always did. Ron figured a glamour charm was involved and for once he decided to hold his tongue and not say anything.

Draco still wasn't comfortable around Weasley and it showed in his involuntary reaction of wrapping his arms around his lower abdomen as Weasley sat down on the other side of Harry.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, catching Draco's body language.

"Um, I haven't left the room yet; do you think it's safe for me to leave now?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, I would've thought you'd leave last night and go back to your dorm to sleep," Harry replied.

"The mothers were still in Professor Snape's office when I went to sleep last night," Draco said.

"Blimey," Ron replied

"They were?" Harry asked surprised.

"Yeah. I thought they might be gone this morning, but then they came back and were in Dumbledore's office, so I couldn't go to class," Draco added.

"Oh I'm sorry. No wonder you weren't in class this morning," Harry replied, stroking Draco's cheek lightly.

"Yeah. I wanted to go to ancient runes, but I wasn't sure if they were planning on coming back. I take it you haven't heard anything then?" Draco asked, making sure.

"No, nothing," Harry admitted.

"I could go find out. I'll ask the portraits what they know and if that doesn't work, I'll go ask Snape and Dumbledore," Ron offered.

"You'd do that?" Draco asked surprised. Draco had hoped Weasley would be up for more spying, but Draco was legitimately surprised that Ron was putting himself out there and offering to spy, without even being asked.

"Yeah, of course," Ron replied with a shrug. Ron wouldn't do it for Malfoy, but he'd do it for Harry any day.

"Could you go ask the portraits now and come right back?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, okay," Ron said, getting up and walking out the door of the room of requirement.

Draco watched Ron go in awe, slowly relaxing his hold of his stomach as the danger grew further away. "I can't believe he's helping us like this," Draco whispered.

"I can. He's always like this. He said he's sorry for what he did and he wants to make it up to me. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time last night, and he acted on instinct. He's really a good guy when he's not shoving his foot up his arse," Harry replied.

"Does he do that a lot?"

"Shove his foot up his arse?" Harry asked for clarification. Draco nodded. "Sometimes, but he always comes around eventually." They heard knocking on the door. "I'll get that."

Draco stayed put on the beach while Harry went and let Ron in. The two boys sat back down in their earlier positions, Harry wrapping his arms around Draco once more.

"Merlin, it's really hot in here, innit?" Ron asked, wiping the sweat off of his brow.

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "What'd the portraits say?"

"They said Dumbledore still has them on the lookout for Malfoy, who's missing, but the 'hens won't be pecking today,'" Ron quoted.

Draco laughed. "Who called them hens?"

"Some old guy with a grey beard, pointy hat, and a pitch fork. He was in the portrait of a young maiden wearing frilly pink lacey robes over in the right corridor. He said his portrait is located in the entrance hall, so he's been told to keep an eye out on the door and alert the headmaster if Malfoy goes in or out," Ron answered.

"So that means Draco should be safe to leave this room?" Harry asked.

"Maybe," Ron replied.

"I think it'd be best if we got a message to Snape and asked him what he'd like me to do. If Pansy and Greg's mothers are gonna be a major pain and keep coming back, then maybe I should submit myself for their inspection. Or if they're not coming back, I can do as I please. But either way, I'd feel better if I could talk to Professor Snape about it," Draco said.

"Where's the map?" Harry asked.

"On my bedside table," Draco answered.

"I'll go get it," Harry offered, jumping up and dashing into the hut.

"Do you mind if I take me robes off? I've got me trousers on underneath," Ron asked, wiping the sweat off his brow again.

"Ask Harry to bring you a shirt," Draco replied, not wanting to see Weasley half-naked. A shiver of disgust went through Draco's body at the thought.

"Harry, can you bring me a shirt?" Ron asked, just as Harry was re-emerging from the hut.

"Yeah, alright," Harry answered, thinking that it was a good idea, because he was hot and sweaty too.

Harry went back into the beach bedroom to change and came back out to the beach with the map and another shirt. He tossed the shirt to Ron and sat down next to Draco with the map.

"Thanks mate," Ron replied, pulling his robes off and putting the shirt on.

Draco deliberately avoided looking in Ron's direction while Ron changed, focusing on the map instead.

"Snape's in the defense classroom surrounded by students, but Dumbledore is alone in his study," Harry concluded after studying the map.

Ron volunteered to go, but needed the password. Harry called Dobby, who provided Dumbledore's password, solving that problem.

"I'll be right back," Ron said, standing up and grabbing his school robes. "This room really is great."

"Yeah, a little bit of sunlight it always nice," Harry agreed, as Ron left.

"Did you get your homework done last night?" Draco asked.

"No. I got just enough of it done that I wouldn't get a detention from Snape, but I still need to do my herbology for after lunch," Harry answered with a hint of despair as he thought about all of the homework he hadn't done yet.

Draco wondered why Harry had spent that time bouncing around with Hermione and the girls if Harry hadn't done his homework. Draco pushed that thought aside and moved on to the next one: wanking. Draco wanted to wank, but Harry had herbology homework to do. Draco tried to persuade Harry to forget about the unfinished homework in favor of wanking, but Harry refused. Draco watched with disappointment as Harry pulled out Harry's stupid herbology book and started doing the bloody herbology homework.

Draco couldn't do anymore studying, not after just reading his defense book for the last two hours and being worked up over what Weasley and Dumbledore must be saying to each other right now. "I'm going for a walk," Draco eventually said, before getting up and walking into the lilac forest.

Draco didn't know how long he stayed in the forest before he heard the knock on the door to the room of requirement. He was near the door, so he called, "I'll get it."

Harry had stood up to get the door, but once Draco spoke, he decided to finish the sentence he had been writing, before putting his homework on the dining table.

Draco let Weasley in and ushered Weasley towards Harry. Draco waited until Weasley was two long strides in front of him before following. Weasley sat down across from Harry and Draco stood in back of Harry, wrapping his arms around Harry's neck.

"So what'd you find out?" Harry asked.

"Dumbledore said that it's very wise of Malfoy to stay away. He and Snape were trying to get rid of the women yesterday, but they were also trying to maintain the charade that Draco was missing from the school grounds against their knowledge. Mrs. Goyle won't be back again, because all that walking around is hard on her, but Mrs. Parkinson said to notify her once you're located and she'd come back. He said you're safe for today, but you need to talk to Snape as soon as possible," Ron answered.

"Great, then I can go to class," Draco replied. There was still an hour left of ancient runes and he didn't want to miss it, especially if all Harry was doing was herbology and not Draco.

"Are you sure? It's half over," Harry said.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," Draco answered, giving Harry a peck on the cheek and heading into the study to get his school bag and his school robes. Draco made sure to cast the glamour on his belly and check it in the mirror once his school robes were back on.

Harry gave Draco a lingering kiss when Draco came back out of the hut. When they broke apart, Draco leaned in to whisper in his ear, "Don't leave Weasley alone in the hut and don't let him in our bedroom."

Draco left and Harry returned to his herbology homework on the dining table.

* * *

While Harry was in the Great Hall eating lunch, Draco was back in the room of requirement with Pansy for company. Draco hadn't asked for the lilac beach, but a simple sitting room with two comfy chairs and a coffee table, which they were eating off of. Pansy was initially distracted by the feast Dobby provided them, leaving Draco to eat in peace. But once they were done with the meal, Pansy looked at Draco and he just knew she was going to demand some answers from him.

"So what's going on Draco?"

"Well you know I've been visiting my mother a lot lately, correct?" Draco asked.

"Yeah," Pansy replied. "What's that got to do with my mother showing up and catching me snogging Blaise on the Astronomy tower?"

"Well mother was supposed to be with the Dark Lord while father and I were away, but she disappeared."

"She disappeared? As in she's dead?" Pansy asked with a gasp of horror.

"As is they can't find her and I'm hiding her so that she doesn't end up dead," Draco clarified. He felt weird revealing the truth to one of his friends, because he hadn't told his friends the truth about anything in months. But at least he wasn't telling her about Harry or the babies.

"You're hiding your mother from Him! You're gonna get yourself killed!"

"Not if you cover for me."

"Why would I do that? Then I'll end up dead too."

"No, you won't, because no one else knows who doesn't know occlumency and no one is gonna find out. You know a bit of occlumency, right?"

"Yeah, Cousin Bella taught me when she and Cousin Rodolphus stayed with us."

"So you can keep it a secret for me. Please? It's my mother's life we're talking about," Draco pleaded earnestly.

"Why should I? Why shouldn't I just turn her over to Him?"

"Because I'm not hurting the cause. I'm still doing my assignment he gave me. In fact, my part is done and I'm just waiting on the signal to go ahead with it. I'm not hurting our chances in the war, so my mother should be allowed to live."

"Well why'd she leave anyway? Why can't we just turn her back over to Him and let Him sort it out?"

"Because mother is terribly frightened of Him. Have you seen Him?" Draco asked and waited for Pansy to shake her head. She hadn't had the honor of actually seeing their horrifying lord in person yet. "He's got no nose, blood red snake-slit eyes, no hair, and he looks like a monster. He comes into our home with a giant snake— the largest one I've ever seen— it's longer than this room and thicker around than my leg. He calls her Nagini and he feeds her muggles in our drawing room. Can you imagine how mother reacted to that?"

"Badly, I'm sure," Pansy answered, thinking about Draco's mother and how squeamish the woman was. "But didn't your mother play a part in the first war? Surely she's used to Him."

"Yeah, she offered first aid. She did nurse stuff, patching up wounds. She played her part as long as she was kept out of the direct line. She'd do it again, but she can't stand to be around Him and his snake and the _eating_ muggles. Have you ever _seen_ a snake eat a human Pansy?" Draco asked, really laying it on thick.

"No," Pansy replied with a shudder, suppressing her gag reflex.

"It's awful; I hope you never do," Draco answered sincerely, taking her hands into his and looking her in the eye.

"Me too," Pansy answered.

Draco was silent for several minutes as he let the horror seep into Pansy, before he spoke again. "Mother couldn't take it anymore so she ran away. I decided to hide her to keep her safe and protect her. I think He might kill her just for leaving," Draco admitted, letting the tears fall from his eyes at the thought of the Dark Lord killing his mother.

"That's awful."

"So you understand why I did it? That I'm not hurting anyone? That I have to protect her?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Then you'll keep quiet about this and tell no one I've seen my mother."

"But everyone in our year already knows! Blaise, Vince, Tracey, Greg, Milli, Theo, Daphne; they all know you've been to see your mother," Pansy protested.

"But they don't know my mother's missing," Draco stressed.

"But after my mother was here, everyone's gonna find out."

"No, not necessarily. She didn't say anything to you or Greg about what they were here to talk to me about, did she?"

"No…"

"What _did_ your mother say Pansy?"

"Professor Snape and mother just kept insisting that they wanted to talk to you and were worried about you and thought you had snuck off of school grounds."

"When did you find out my mother was missing?"

"I didn't know until you told me just now," Pansy admitted.

"Well the others won't know either."

"But what are you going to tell them about why my mother was here Draco?"

"Just what I told my ancient runes class: I was worried your mother was here to take me away. Only I'll add in that I've got to stay to finish my task for the Dark Lord. I couldn't risk failing Him, so I hid." Pansy wasn't in ancient runes, so she hadn't heard his little speech when he showed up halfway through class.

"But that doesn't explain why _mother_ came. That only explains why you hid."

"Okay, do you have any ideas then?" Draco asked hopefully.

"Um," Pansy said while she thought about it. They were both silent for five minutes. "You could tell them your mother just went missing, so my mother came to check on you and tell you that your mother's gone."

"That's brilliant!" Draco exclaimed. He took Pansy into a hug, but made sure to keep his stomach a good distance away from her, so that she didn't feel his bulge. The last thing he wanted was for her to realize he'd gotten even fatter and was using a glamour to hide it.

"Thanks," Pansy replied smiling smugly. She was brilliant, wasn't she? "So what does hiding your mother have to do with you coming back to Slytherin with kiss bruised lips?"

Pansy was too observant and Draco had been waiting for her to corner him. Luckily, Draco was ready for her. "Subterfuge; no one is gonna accuse me of hiding my mother or of working for the Dark Lord when they think I've been spending all of my time with some secret lover, now are they?"

Pansy didn't entirely believe Draco, but she decided to drop it for now and pursue another line of questioning. "So what is your secret mission anyway?"

"I can't tell you that, but you'll find out soon enough. The only question now is whether I'll be able to flee the school fast enough without getting caught, or whether I'll end up in Azkaban by the end of the year."

"They wouldn't put you in Azkaban; you're still in school!"

"I'm seventeen; my birthday was last week and it'll be an unforgiveable," Draco revealed. He wanted some information to dribble back to the Dark Lord; just enough that He would think Draco was seriously working on his task and committed to following through with it. With Pansy's connections, there was a chance she would leak this information.

Pansy was silent for a long while after that, so Draco pulled out his homework and when he needed a book he'd left in the study of the lilac beach hut, he willed it to appear on the coffee table.

"Did the table just make you a book you wanted?" Pansy asked curiously.

"Actually this is one I left in here earlier. It gives me back the things I left when I will them to reappear." Draco opened up the cover of the book to reveal his name, to prove to Pansy that it was indeed his book, although he probably could've willed the room to provide him with a book with his name in the cover.

"Cool," Pansy replied, distracted from their earlier conversation. "Is this where you were hiding out yesterday?"

"Yeah. No one can find me in here."

"Brilliant. But there's just one more thing I don't get."

"What?"

"Where'd that ring come from? I thought you said your mother gave it to you, but if she's been in hiding this whole time, where'd you get the ring?" Pansy asked, indicating the ring on Draco's finger; the ring Harry had given Draco.

"Oh, um, this?" Draco asked, holding up the ring to stall for time while he thought up an excuse.

"Yeah that."

"Oh, I got it when I picked mother up and moved her to a more secure location."

"So your mother had it with her in hiding then?"

"Actually it was Grandmother Druella who gave it to me; she said it was Grandfather Cygnus'."

"I thought you said your mother gave it to you?"  
"I never said anything. You assumed it was mother and I let you."

"When'd you see your grandmother then? And why would she give it to you?"

"When mother ran away, she hid at Grandmother Druella's house until I was able to sneak out and get her. Grandmother Druella said she wanted me to have it for being such a nice young wizard; said I was doing the right thing by taking care of mother."

"Oh, okay. But it doesn't look old enough to be your grandfather's."

"Well it was dirty when she gave it to me, but I had Mipsy clean it."

Pansy nodded, accepting Draco's lie. Pansy was appeased for now, but she planned on keeping an eye on Draco just the same. After that Draco and Pansy spent the entire afternoon together in the room of requirement doing homework, goofing off, and thinking up pranks to play on unsuspecting Hufflepuffs.

Z

The buzz at dinner was that Draco was back.

"Wonder what Malfoy was up to for two days. He wasn't in defense," Seamus said, leaning over the table conspiratorially.

"He showed up halfway through ancient runes," Hermione offered.

"But he wasn't here at lunch," Dean protested.

"Well he must've eaten elsewhere, but he was definitely in ancient runes right before lunch," Hermione insisted. "He took off straight away after class, before anyone could question him, but he was there."

"What did Professor Babbling say when he came in late?" Dean asked.

"She asked him where he'd been. He said he'd been hiding, because he thought Mrs. Goyle and Mrs. Parkinson were here to take him away from the school and he didn't want to go. He said he came as soon as he was sure they were gone," Hermione answered. Draco had said this quite loudly in their ancient runes class. There were a dozen other students who had heard, so Hermione was certain this information would get out.

After that revelation, the talk at the Gryffindor table turned to just why Malfoy wanted to stay at the school and why Mrs. Parkinson and Mrs. Goyle would be here to remove him from the school.

Harry tried to stay out of it, but when forced to give an answer, he replied, "Because he's up to no good of course! Voldemort's given him a job to do and he can't do it if he's not here."

That pretty much settled it, but the gossip continued on about what that job was and what was going to happen.

Z

During dinner, Draco was very cryptic about where he'd been and why he was missing for two days. By the time he was finished eating, everyone was so intrigued that the Slytherins all got up and followed him back to the common room. Draco loved being the center of attention, so he sat in the largest armchair by the fire and soaked up the attention while the other students hounded him for answers. He kept silent just long enough to make sure he had the attention of his entire house.

"My mother's gone missing," Draco started dramatically. He let it hang at that for five minutes, while the other students first waited patiently for him to continue. Then when it was clear that he wasn't going to continue, they began murmuring to themselves.

"Why'd she go missing?" Blaise asked.

"When did she go missing?" Harper asked.

"Where'd she go missing from?" Milli asked.

"Is she dead?" Hestia Carrow asked.

"Why'd my mum come to tell you that?" Greg asked.

"How'd his mum know about it in the first place?" Vince asked.

"Why'd you hide then?" Adel asked.

"Yeah, why _did_ you hide Draco?" Yatin asked.

"_Where_ were you hiding?" Miles asked.

Draco put his hand up to silence everyone, indicating that he was ready to speak again. "I left my mother with the Dark Lord and that was the last I saw her. I don't know where she went or exactly when it happened. All I know is she's gone."

That started off another whole round of questions. The unanswered ones from earlier, about why he had hid and why Pansy and Greg's mothers had come continued, but now there were also questions about why Draco left his mother with the Dark Lord and speculation over whether or not the Dark Lord could have killed her. Again Draco waited them out, before quieting them down and speaking again. "Mrs. Goyle and Mrs. Parkinson were here to inform me of my mother's disappearance, but I already knew. I thought they were here to remove me from the castle and I'm not ready to go yet, so I hid until I knew for sure they were gone."

"Why would mother remove you from the castle?" Greg asked.

"How'd you know?" Viola asked.

And then all of the earlier questions that he had left unanswered repeated again. After another few minutes, Draco got their silence once more and said, "That will be all. I won't be answering anymore questions on the subject." Draco made a quick retreat after that, heading to his dorm room.

Greg, Vince, and Blaise followed Draco up and he had to let them in, because it was their room too, but he warded the door behind them, so that no one else would come in or eavesdrop.

"Draco, didn't you just go visit your mum this weekend?" Blaise asked as Draco cast a privacy spell on the door, just in case.

"No. I haven't actually been leaving the school grounds to see mother," Draco lied, sitting down on his bed.

"Then where've you been?" Vince asked.

"Yeah," Greg added.

"I've been leaving school grounds to search for my mother," Draco said.

"How long has she been gone for?" Blaise asked concerned.

"This entire time that I've been pretending to visit her; almost two months now," Draco admitted.

"Your mum's been gone for two months and you don't know whether she's even alive and we didn't know!" Blaise exclaimed.

"Yes," Draco answered simply.

"You must have one good poker face," Blaise replied.

"You know I do," Draco said sadly, because of the occasion, but normally he would have been boasting about it.

"Your mother's really missing?" Greg asked.

"Yeah, she's really gone. Father can't even locate her," Draco confirmed.

Greg nodded and sat down next to Draco, offering his silent support.

"Do you think she's dead?" Vince asked.

"No. I think she just couldn't take it anymore and ran off," Draco answered.

"She couldn't take being with the Dark Lord anymore?" Vince asked. "She should've been honored."

"I don't know. Maybe she couldn't take being married to father anymore. He's getting out soon, so maybe she wanted to be gone before he came back," Draco offered as a reason other than the Dark Lord that his mother might have for leaving.

"You think your parents are getting a divorce?" Blaise asked concerned.

"Maybe," Draco answered.

"But they're purebloods and purebloods don't get divorced," Vince insisted.

"Would you stay with my father after he was locked up for life in Azkaban for attacking children?" Draco asked.

"But he was fighting for our Lord! And you said he was getting out soon," Vince protested.

"He's not out yet; he could still be in for life. And mother's not been happy with father for a while now," Draco lied.

Blaise knew what that was like. He took the seat on Draco's other side to offer his silent support.

"Well what are you gonna do?" Vince asked.

"Same thing I've been doing: finish the school year, finish my task for our Lord, and search for mother," Draco answered.

"Can I help?" Vince offered.

"Yeah. You can keep your mouth shut and act like I just found out mother was missing and don't tell anyone that I've supposedly been visiting mother for the past two months. It'll be much easier to explain if they don't know I've already been looking for her," Draco replied.

"Yeah, okay," Vince agreed.

Blaise and Greg both agreed not to tell anyone who didn't already know about Draco's "visits" with his mother. There was some discussion on what to tell the girls and Theo, so Draco admitted that he'd already told Pansy. That just left Theo, Milli, Tracey, Sophie, and Daphne; Draco agreed that those five could be told, but after that, their lips needed to be zipped. Blaise offered to go get their friends and the process of lying to his friends and swearing them to secrecy started all over again.

"So where'd you go when you ran out of ancient runes?" Milli asked. "Tracey and I went looking for you, but we couldn't find you.

"Yeah, and why'd you run out so fast?" Greg asked.

"I ran out so that no one could question me. I was headed back to the dungeons, when I ran into Pansy, so I decided to spend the afternoon hiding out with her," Draco revealed.

Everyone's attention then turned to Pansy. "Is that true?" Vince asked.

"Yes, I was with Draco from before lunch until dinner time," Pansy confirmed.

"Where were you? I know you weren't in the common room or down here," Blaise said. He'd gone looking for Pansy.

"If I told you, then I'd have to kill you," Draco teased. "We were in the same place that I used to hide from Pansy's mother."

There were more questions about where he hid, but Draco brushed them off. There were other questions then, but Draco was saved an hour later when Professor Snape came in and requested Draco's presence in Snape's office. Draco went and was surprised to see that Weasley was there quietly serving his detention, but Weasley only looked at Draco and never said anything, so Draco tried to pretend Weasley wasn't even there.

Professor Snape started by repeating what Weasley had already told Draco, before mentioning future communications with Mrs. Goyle and Mrs. Parkinson. The mothers were expecting to hear from Snape when Draco was found, so Snape would have to send an owl. Snape hoped he could dissuade the women from making another visit to the castle by informing them that Draco was fine with his mother's disappearance and would willingly go with them to Druella Black's house at the end of the term. Then Snape asked Draco what story Draco had been telling everyone.

Draco repeated all of the various stories he had told and to who, but when he was done, he asked, "What about Grandmother Druella? Is she gonna be safe with Aunt Bella?"

"Most likely she will be fine, but I can go check on her for you. If she seems agreeable, I can take her to stay with your mother," Professor Snape answered.

"Thank you Professor," Draco replied relieved.

Their meeting lasted an hour and included a discussion on what Draco should tell his friends about this meeting and his punishment for sneaking out. Snape wasn't upset about Draco's absence, but that's not what Draco told his friends when he got back. Draco spread the rumor that Professor Snape was onto Draco and threatened to expel him for leaving school grounds, but had settled for giving him an entire weekend of detentions instead. And that pleased Draco, because now he had the perfect excuse for where he'd be all weekend when he was with Harry in the room of requirement. Now all he had to do was explain to his dorm mates why he wouldn't make it back to his own bed Saturday night.

* * *

Author's Note: The gossip mills will be roaring with Draco related chatter next chapter…

Please Review!


	56. Chapter 56

Author's Note: This chapter has been censored. To read the full version, go to AO3; you can find the link on my profile page.

* * *

After class transfigurations Friday morning, Draco headed straight back to the Slytherin dungeons, to avoid all of the questions he was getting. He still got a few questions from his housemates once he was safely inside the dungeons, but Milli shoed the annoying younger students away so that she and Tracey could tell Draco all of the gossip that he had missed. Most of it was about what everyone was saying about him while he was gone.

Draco was only mildly interested in today's gossip until Tracey mentioned Harry. "Rumor has it that Potter's seeing Loony," Tracey said.

"Loony?" Draco asked confused, his ears perking up at the mention of Harry.

"Loony Lovegood. She's a Ravenclaw in the year below us. Her father owns some wacky tabloid and she's always spouting nonsense," Milli clarified.

"Oh, Luna Lovegood, yeah, I know which one you're talking about. Are you sure Potter's seeing her?" Draco asked.

"That's what they're saying. Potter was seen heading to Hogsmeade with Loony and then last night they were seen slow dancing in a classroom on the seventh floor. They were very close together, with their bodies pressed up tight. Why else would Potter be dancing like that with Loony unless they were dating?" Tracey asked.

"I don't know. Who saw them?" Draco asked, thinking about Harry dancing with Lovegood. He didn't know her at all, but dancing would explain the bouncing around Harry appeared to be doing on the map when Draco was stuck in the room of requirement.

"Michael Corner. He said that Loony went off the night before to meet Potter as well," Tracey answered. "He said he thought Potter and Loony had been snogging in the room just before he got there."

Draco wanted to clear Harry's name and tell Tracey and Milli that Harry was just friends with the Lovegood girl. But then Draco thought about it and decided that subterfuge was the best way to go with this. Thus he said, "Oh this is just too good: Potter dating Loony Lovegood. It's like he's asking for it."

By lunch time, Draco had his plan ready and he set about changing the school gossip from his disappearance, to Harry's alleged relationship with Lovegood. "Sorry, I'm no longer answering questions about why I hid. But I can tell you that while I was hiding, I saw Lovegood and Potter snogging in the seventh floor corridor. I followed them and they went into an abandoned classroom, groping each other like animals. I left when I heard the moaning and the clothes coming off," Draco told the Slytherin table. Tracey and Milli knew he was lying and raised their eyebrows at him, but he just winked to tell them to go along with it.

When Draco was questioned further on what he allegedly saw happen between Lovegood and Harry, he referenced Tracey's gossip from Michael Corner. Draco waited while the gossip spread. He was quite pleased when it reached Corner and Corner confirmed that he'd seen Potter and Lovegood together on numerous occasions. Draco just sat back and listened with a smug smile on his face as the gossip turned from him and his absence, to Harry's tawdry affair with Lovegood. He almost died of mirth when a Hufflepuff came over and informed his table that Gayle Pocklington had seen Lovegood and Potter shagging in a broom cupboard.

The gossip that day was centered on the Slytherin table, with regular envoys to and from both the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables. The Gryffindor table was gossiping too, but they were still stuck on Malfoy and his disappearance. It wasn't until lunch was winding down that Justin Finch-Fletchley, Hannah Abbott, and Zacharias Smith came over to the Gryffindor table to ask Harry if the rumors about him and Lovegood were true.

"What rumors?" Harry asked.

"That you and Loony are shagging," Justin clarified.

Harry spit out his pumpkin juice in surprise. "What?" Where had _that_ come from?

"Gayle Pocklington's saying she saw you shagging in a broom cupboard. The Slytherins are saying that the two of you were seen shagging in an abandoned classroom on the seventh floor last night. Michael Corner confirmed that he saw you two dancing and snogging there last night. So is it true?" Justin Finch-Fletchley asked.

"No it's not true! Luna and I are friends! We were dancing, yeah, but we're not shagging and we weren't snogging," Harry protested a little too adamantly.

Justin was pleased with himself for getting a reaction out of Potter, so he led the other Hufflepuffs back to their table to spread word of Harry's reaction.

Harry looked over to the Slytherin table and caught Draco's eye; Draco started laughing hysterically, which made Harry think that Draco had something to do with this rumor.

Harry scowled and turned back to his housemates, who were now discussing the likelihood of Harry and Luna being an item.

"Harry, does everyone know that you're, you know?" Ron asked quietly, leaning over towards Harry.

"I don't think so, but I'd rather that not get out just yet," Harry answered.

"Way to go mate," Seamus said, reaching over Ron to pat Harry on the back.

"I'm not seeing Luna, Seamus," Harry protested.

"You don't have to pretend with us. At least she's easy on the eyes," Dean said.

"I'm not pretending. If I was with Luna, I wouldn't keep it a secret, but I'm not; she's not even my type," Harry insisted.

"I thought blond and crazy _is_ your type," Ron joked, laughing at his own joke.

"What are you trying to say Ron?" Harry asked annoyed.

"Ah, nothing, um, yeah, nothing. Never mind," Ron back tracked.

"How long have you been seeing Lovegood?" Lavender asked, from the other side of the table.

"I'm not seeing Lovegood; we're just friends," Harry insisted.

"You're really not seeing Luna?" Neville asked shyly. Up until now, he'd been quiet since Justin came over.

"I'm really not seeing her. She's all yours," Harry said, making Neville smile.

The lunch bell rang and the gossip followed Harry to charms class. Flitwick had to order everyone to settle down, but even then, Harry kept getting questioning looks. Someone even passed Harry a sketch of him and Luna snogging. By the time class ended, Harry couldn't wait to see Draco and ask him what he was doing.

Harry went straight to the room of requirement after class and had to wait fifteen minutes for Draco to show up. During that time, he changed into shorts and a t-shirt, because it was once again very hot in the room of requirement with the fake-sun beating down. He cast a cooling charm on himself and went to the ice box to find out if Dobby had left Draco anything to eat. There was a bowl of sliced peaches and a cup of yogurt, so Harry took both out and was carrying them to the dining patio when Draco finally arrived.

The first thing Draco did when he arrived was walk over to Harry and start snogging Harry senseless. The second thing, was pull off his robes, leaving him in just his pants, because it was way too hot to be wearing his school robes.

"Whoa, not so fast with the stripping. Before we do anything, I want an explanation; why'd you start that rumor about me and Luna shagging?" Harry asked.

Draco summoned a pair of shorts and a muggle shirt, which he put on before saying, "Relax, I wasn't gonna jump you; I'm just too hot."

"And the rumor?" Harry insisted, pushing the food towards Draco to indicate that it was for Draco. Then Harry crossed his arms to show that he was serious and not at all happy about this.

Draco sat and answered, "It was already going around after Corner saw you dancing and snogging her last night. I just added in the bit about you being naked and set it loose; some witch from Hufflepuff upped it to shagging." He picked up a fork and took a bite of the food Harry had gotten for him.

"What? I was _not_ snogging Luna last night!"

"That's not what I heard."

"And where'd you hear it from? Corner?"

"Yes."

"Well he may have seen us dancing, but he certainly didn't see us snogging. I haven't kissed a girl since Cho Chang last year and I don't plan to _ever_ do that again. I already told you I wouldn't cheat on you. You don't honestly believe I would do that, do you?"

"No, I knew it wasn't true," Draco answered in between bites.

"Then why'd you do that to me?"

"Two reasons. First, I wanted to divert everyone's attention from what was really going on with my disappearance for two days and my mother being missing."

"Oh, sorry. I forgot about that once I heard the rumor about me and Luna. But why'd you have to divert the attention off of you, by putting it onto me?" Harry asked, finally sitting down and taking the other seat at the table.

"Well, because of my second reason: it made good subterfuge."

"Subterfuge? Didn't you tell me about that before?"

"Yeah, I did. It's where we put out misinformation, so that no one begins to suspect the truth."

"But why'd it have to be about me? Why couldn't you draw attention to someone else?"

"Because they were already saying it about you and if people think you're interested in Lovegood, then they won't think there's anything between you and me."

"Oh…" Harry said stunned into silence. He took a few minutes to formulate a response. "So then I should've let people think I was shagging Luna."

"Yeah, you should've. What _did_ you say? Blanket denials sometimes just make people think you're lying."

"Yeah, it was pretty much a blanket denial."

"Great. I'll tell Tracey and Milli that you're denying it and they'll take it as concrete evidence that it's true," Draco said, eating another slice of peach and smiling smugly. He really did like when his plans worked out so nicely.

"I was about to mention that I couldn't possibly be shagging Luna, because I'm bent."

"No, don't say that; whatever you do, don't say that."

"Yeah, alright. But how am I gonna get them to drop the shagging Luna thing?"

"We don't want them to drop it! No, this is gonna be epic. I can see the headlines now: Potter Lovegood Wedding Next Spring, Lovegood Carrying Potter Love Child. I should write Skeeter; she's such a lovely woman."

"No! Don't you dare write to Rita Skeeter about this! I hate that woman," Harry said with a scowl.

"Fine, I won't, if you'll arrange to get caught kissing Lovegood in a broom closet."

"I'm not gonna do that!"

"Well then you can just take your chances with when the article is coming out; I bet it makes the front page."

"No, I hate Skeeter and I absolutely _refuse_ to give her anymore material. I really don't want you to either."

"Then just engage in a little bit of subterfuge with Lovegood."

"I can't; it'll hurt Neville too much."

"And super Potter can't have Longbottom's feelings hurt, even if it means protecting the lives of innocent babies."

"Going along with your rumor or not isn't gonna make a difference to the babies. The only thing it's gonna do is get Luna hurt when Voldemort decides to go after her to get to me. I'm _not_ putting her at risk," Harry insisted, just now coming up with that brilliant argument. He hated the idea and this argument really was much better than the Neville argument.

"Fine, you win, but I'm still gonna encourage the rumor from my end," Draco conceded.

Harry couldn't believe he had won an argument with Draco. He was also glad that Draco hadn't asked him why he was dancing with Luna and was happy to drop the subject. It took him a minute to process his victory, before he asked Draco about Draco's day. Draco told Harry about all of the lies and half-truths Draco'd told to his friends. Then Draco told Harry about his pretend detention all weekend and Harry smiled as he realized that he could possibly spend two entire days with Draco.

"So you'll be here just after breakfast Saturday?" Harry asked.

"Yep. From Saturday morning until Sunday night," Draco confirmed, putting down his spoon.

Harry leaned across the table and kissed Draco deeply. They both got up and moved to sit on the beach and resumed their snogging. It turned into an all-out passionate snog when Draco opened his mouth, kissed Harry back, and began running his hands up and down Harry's arms. Harry's skin was soft and smooth.

Harry forgot all about the rumor Draco had spread as they kissed; Draco's firm warm lips moving underneath Harry's.

Draco was suddenly too hot and couldn't catch his breath as Harry snogged him senseless. Draco's breathing came in fast, harsh, pants and he pulled away from Harry. Draco tugged at the tight collar of the constricting muggle shirt with one hand, leaning on the other arm in the sand to maintain his precarious balance, but the lack of oxygen threatened to send him falling back onto the sand.

Harry grabbed the hem of Draco's muggle shirt and helped pulled it off, revealing Draco's sexy chest and slightly bulging tummy. Draco was still panting for breath and didn't look too stable, so Harry pulled his boyfriend into his lap and asked, "Do you want to go for a dip in the ocean or take a cold shower?"

"Ocean," Draco replied.

Harry carried Draco the few feet it took to walk into the ocean; Draco was heavy, but they didn't go far, so thankfully Harry didn't drop Draco. Harry sat down with Draco in his arms in water that was about two feet deep, still wearing his shirt and shorts. Harry splashed Draco's chest with cool ocean water, soaking Draco's shorts. Then Harry gently stroked along the side of Draco's face, until Draco cooled down and started taking deep calm breaths once more. Draco turned back to a pale pink, instead of the overheated bright red.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Don't know. I just was too hot all of a sudden," Draco answered.

"Are you better now?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," Draco replied, pressing his lips gently down into Harry's lips.

"Ready to try again?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Yeah," Draco answered, running his hands over Harry's cloth-covered chest. The shirt was soaking wet and Harry's pecks were hard and firm underneath the thin layer. Draco liked the feel of Harry's muscles.

"Okay," Harry replied, unbuttoning Draco's shorts and then encouraging Draco to stand up in the water, to pull them off.

"Do you want to do this here?" Draco asked confused. He'd never done anything sexual in water before.

"Yeah. It'll be fine," Harry said, while unbuttoning his own shorts and lifting his hips to get them and his pants down.

"Okay," Draco replied, throwing his shorts and pants to the shore, before sitting back down on Harry's lap.

Harry reached up and guided Draco to sit back down on his lap, straddling Harry.

*Censored

When they were done, Harry held Draco in his arms in the water for five minutes, before standing up and attempting to carry his boyfriend to bed. But Draco was too heavy, so Harry grabbed his wand from the water and cast a lightening charm on Draco. Draco held onto Harry's neck and Harry locked his arms underneath Draco's bum, carrying Draco into the bedroom and laying Draco down on the bed.

Harry prepared himself and Draco fingered Harry. Harry came a second time and Draco got up and washed his hands.

When Draco returned from the loo, he went over to the sex basket and asked, "Harry, are you sore?"

"Yeah, a bit," Harry answered, as he came back to his senses.

Draco rummaged through the sex basket until he found a soothing potion to help ease Harry's discomfort. He unshrunk the tub and filled an applicator with the red potion, before going over to Harry. He inserted the soothing potion, before finding the applicator full of conditioning potion lying nearby and inserting that too. Finally he discarded the empty applicators on the floor and lay down next to Harry.

Harry summoned his wand, cleaned himself up, and then took Draco into his arms. They fell asleep together and slept until dinner time.

Harry and Draco went down to dinner separately, before Harry went to the abandoned classroom with Hermione, where they met Ginny and Luna.

"What'd your boyfriend say about the rumor?" Ginny asked with trepidation. If Harry's boyfriend was mad, they might not be able to meet for dance practice anymore.

"He was one of the people who added _to_ the rumor," Harry admitted.

"Why ever would he do that?" Hermione asked perplexed.

"He calls it subterfuge. Instead of getting mad and revealing why that rumor couldn't possibly be true, he confirmed it and added to it, so that no one would suspect that I'm with him," Harry answered.

"I didn't mind myself, but I think the rumor rather upset Neville," Luna said dreamily.

"Thanks Luna. I told everyone at my table that it's not true," Harry replied.

"Funny, I thought the rumor came from Malfoy. Everyone was on Malfoy about his disappearance and the rumor that his mum's been killed by You-Know-Who and then it switched to you and Luna," Ginny said.

"My boyfriend said he was one of the people who told it to Malfoy. Malfoy was laughing so hard after I heard the rumor that I'm sure he's the one who spread it around. Between him and Corner, I just want to strangle one of them," Harry admitted.

"So it's someone who's friends with both Michael and Malfoy, hmmm," Ginny trailed off in thought. "Is it Anthony?"

"Ginny, I'm not going to answer that," Harry replied with a smile as he thought that maybe Anthony, with his blond hair and pureblood status, might just fit the profile of his alleged boyfriend. "You know my boyfriend's not even out of the closet and if you find out before his mum and dad, I'm gonna be in trouble with my future in-laws." Harry mentally gave himself a pat on the back as he decided he was getting better at this lying through his teeth business, or as Draco called, subterfuge.

"It is Anthony!" Ginny exclaimed.

"I didn't say that," Harry replied with a naughty smile on his face as he thought about his little subterfuge.

"Oh you and Anthony would make such a cute couple! No wonder he's never had a girlfriend," Ginny said.

"Ginny," Harry warned.

"Yeah, yeah, okay. I promise I won't tell him I know. My lips are sealed," Ginny replied.

Hermione was having trouble stopping herself from giggling at Ginny and Harry's exchange, but eventually she got herself together and said, "Perhaps we should start the dance lesson."

Ginny and Luna agreed and they started to practice the dance.

* * *

Author's Note: I've hardly gotten any reviews at all lately. I take that to mean that the majority of readers haven't liked the last few chapters. I felt they were needed to allow Ron a chance to redeem himself, but perhaps my readers would prefer if I just got rid of Ron…

Please Review and let me know what you think!


	57. Chapter 57

Author's Note: This chapter has been censored. To read the full version, go to AO3; you can find the link on my profile page.

I would like to thank Aimee, x Bluebell Flames x, Belldandy55555, vampiremom1221, HarryPottersGirl2010, and nerdandproud2 for taking the time to review! Your feedback is greatly appreciated!

* * *

"Hey Pansy, tonight I'm sneaking out to look for my mother. Cover for me, will you?" Draco asked on his way to breakfast Saturday morning, after casting a privacy bubble around himself and Pansy. The moving privacy bubble was a very popular charm among the upper years in Slytherin house at the moment.

"Where are you going?" Pansy asked.

"Home to look for clues. I'll leave right after my detention and be back in time for detention with Professor Snape in the morning," Draco replied as they continued walking.

"So I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow then?"

"No, I'm tired of plebian school food; I'm gonna let Mipsy cook me a real breakfast."

"When then?" Pansy asked as they walked into the Great Hall and took seats at the Slytherin table.

"I'll be back after dinner Sunday. I think I'll have dinner by myself in the room of requirement and make sure my _project_ is ready to go for the big day," Draco said, scooping fruit onto his plate.

"But what if something happens to you while you're gone?"

"What's gonna happen to me? Besides, Professor Snape knows where I'm going and if I'm not back, he'll know."

"Professor Snape knows? He's letting you go?"

"Yeah, of course he knows. He's been helping me."

"So then who am I covering you to?"

"Our housemates and anyone else who asks where I am."

"And where should I say you are?"

"If it's someone from our house, just say I'm working on my secret project for Him. If it's someone else, just say it's none of their business."

"And if Dumbledore asks?"

"Merlin, I'll have to come up with something to tell the nosey bugger won't I?"

"Yes and it better be something good in case it gets back to my mother."

Draco nodded and there was silence then while they thought about this for a few minutes. "Tell him there was an emergency at the Manor and I had to get home to rescue a house elf that fell into the well," Draco concluded.

Pansy snickered at the thought of a wizard actually rescuing a house elf and said, "Alright. That's just the sort of doge he'd believe."

Then Pansy changed the conversation to herself and what she and Blaise were planning to do this weekend, so Draco just listened as he shoveled food into his mouth. When he was finished eating, he canceled the privacy bubble, said goodbye to Pansy, thanked her again for covering for him, and insulted Harry on the way out. Draco entered the room of requirement and the first thing he did was go into the bedroom to change into his swimming trunks. He was snorkeling near the shore when Harry arrived.

"Hi Draco! Did you want to start off snorkeling then?" Harry asked, setting his backpack down by the front door to the hut.

"Yeah. Come in, the water's nice," Draco said, pulling his head out of the water, but leaving his mask on.

Harry changed and joined Draco in the water. After a while the boys got bored and made their way to the shore. They lay down on the sand, not even bothering with a towel. Harry ran his hands down Draco's chest and over Draco's bulging abdomen, noticing that it looked bigger than ever today. Draco looked chunky.

Harry moved lower and gave Draco head, while wanking himself.

*censored.

Harry cleaned them up with a quick cleaning spell, before lying down next to Draco on the sand underneath the beach umbrella. Harry held Draco in his arms, just watching the way Draco's chest moved with every breath Draco took. The movements were harsh and fast at first, but gradually settled down and evened out until Draco was taking slow deep breaths once more.

When Draco came back to awareness, he was cuddled into Harry's arms on the beach. It would've been perfect, if not for the sharp grains of sand digging into his skin. He grunted in complaint and tried to shift his body, but that only made the feeling worse.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, seeing the pained look on Draco's face.

"Sand," Draco answered, pushing his upper body up away from the irritating grains.

They went to the bathroom, where they washed off the sand in the shower, before Draco got into the bath.

Harry was drying off with a large fluffy white towel when Draco said, "Why don't you get your potions and we'll take care of your arse in the bath right now."

"Why now? We normally do it later," Harry replied, continuing to dry off.

"So we can get it out of the way. The point of this weekend is to get one of those babies into the next stage, isn't it? We're gonna be busy with a screaming baby all night," Draco replied.

"Yeah, okay," Harry agreed, before going into the bedroom to prepare the applicators.

Harry came back into the bathroom with his wand and three filled applicators, including the red soothing potion, in case Draco tried to fist him again. He cast his three preparatory spells and asked, "Um, how did you want to do this?"

"Come into the tub and find out."

Harry stepped into the tub and set the three applicators on the ledge, before sitting down next to Draco. Draco moved to the opposite side of the tub, picking up the applicator filled with stretching potion.

"Get on your hands and knees, with your arse towards me," Draco ordered, grabbing Harry's wand and performing the finger extension charm.

Harry complied and then Draco was pulling Harry backwards into place.

*Censored.

Once Harry's face unclenched and his eyes reopened, Draco moved in between Harry's legs, searching out that stretched hole so that he could apply the soothing and conditioning potions. They got out, dried off, and made their way to the bedroom, sprawling out on the bed in each other's arms. Neither was sleepy yet, but they were a bit worn out from all of the sexual activity.

A while later Draco had a snack before they took Cereus up to the second level. This stage was a lot like the first, except Cereus made everything more difficult, like when she spit-up while Harry was burping her. Cereus wiggled and squirmed like never before and Draco almost dropped her once when he was applying baby lotion. And instead of just pooping like the dolls normally did, Cereus cried about it for a half an hour before doing it. At least this stage only lasted two hours.

When the two hours were up, they took a break for lunch, before going back into the nursery for stage three. It was just like the last stage, but nonstop. After about an hour of it, the boys agreed to take turns, so that Draco watched the baby while Harry did homework. Then Cereus went down for a nap and Draco joined Harry with the homework. Later Harry took a turn watching the doll and Draco took a nap.

The biggest problem they encountered came when Harry changed Cereus' nappy and the doll still smelled afterwards. They ended up giving the doll a bath to get rid of the smell. The smell was so bad Draco had to call Dobby for an extra glass of pumpkin juice to quell his nausea.

After dinner they took Cereus to sit on the beach and watch the waves roll in. They were sitting together peacefully as the baby cooed and gurgled at them when they heard knocking at the door.

"Who do you think it could be?" Draco asked.

"I don't know, but I'll take care of it. You take Cereus back into the hut," Harry answered, getting up to check his map.

"Yeah, good plan," Draco said, struggling to stand up with the baby. Harry normally helped Draco up, but Harry had just run off to get the map and left Draco pregnant on the ground holding a baby.

Harry ran into the hut, retrieved the map from the coffee table where he'd left it earlier, and saw that it was Hermione. Harry went back out to Draco, who was just barely walking up off of the beach onto the dining patio. "It's Hermione. Can I let her in?" Harry asked as the knocking sounded again.

"Yeah, I guess. We're still going into the sitting room though," Draco said. He would've stayed on the beach longer, but now that he'd gone to all that work of getting up, he didn't fancy getting back down.

"Kay, thanks." Harry went to the door and opened it for Hermione.

"Harry, thank goodness you answered!" Hermione said, stepping into the room. "I tried asking you if I could come over, but you never responded to the coin," Hermione prattled on quickly.

Harry led Hermione towards the hut saying, "Come on; Draco and Cereus are in the sitting room."

Hermione stepped into the hut and saw Draco sitting on the sofa with a baby Cereus who suddenly seemed much more real and alive. "Oh my, just look at her!" Hermione exclaimed, taking the seat Draco had left open for Harry. "Draco she is just too adorable. May I hold her?"

"Yeah, but don't give her a bath," Draco joked, carefully handing Cereus over to Hermione.

Harry sat down in the armchair and watched in shock as Draco actually handed over his baby to Hermione. Draco kept his eyes on Hermione and the baby the entire time, while the two prattled on about how cute Cereus was for what felt like forever to Harry.

Draco and Hermione laughed as they watch Cereus accidentally stick her finger up her nose and then start fussing at her predicament. Draco reached out and freed the finger. They watched the baby for a minute to see if she would do anything else, but all she did was stare off into space, wave her arms, kick, and make suckling movements with her mouth, which was what she'd been doing all night.

"So Hermione, Harry was telling me about some children in the muggle-world becoming addicted to these nipple toys," Draco said, picking up the soother from the coffee table and handing it to Cereus. The baby waved it around and failed to put it in her mouth. "I think I like them, but tell me, do you think they're safe?"

"Well during a certain period of time soothers aren't only safe, but beneficial. They really do calm down babies. The sucking urge is natural in young babies, but if you give soothers to the baby too soon, it can interfere with establishing nursing. And you should take them away by the age of two, because after that age soothers can mess up the permanent teeth. But after the first month or so and before a year, they're beneficial," Hermione answered, sounding like an encyclopedia.

"Soothers? That's a good name for them," Draco replied, moving Cereus' hand so that the soother went into her mouth. He left her hand on it, so she quickly popped it back out again and proceeded to cry. Then he took the soother from her hand and placed it in her mouth properly, which calmed her down immediately.

"Yes it is," Hermione replied.

"So this soother addiction thing Harry mentioned; do you think it's a major problem?" Draco asked curiously.

"Not as long as you take the soothers away and are firm about it. My aunt had a problem with them with my cousin who wanted one until he was four, but then with my next cousin, she took the soother away when he was a year; she said he cried for about a week and then that was it," Hermione answered.

"Well that doesn't sound too bad. Harry can watch the babies for a week while I go on vacation. Right Harry?" Draco asked, turning his head to his boyfriend, but keeping his body and his baby angled towards Hermione.

"Wha- yeah, right," Harry replied, not sure what Draco had asked him. He had been day dreaming about how wonderful it'd be if Draco and Hermione became friends; real friends, without the need for Harry to intervene. He'd come home from a hard day of being an Auror to find Draco holding one baby and Hermione the other and the house elves would have dinner on the table.

Hermione started giggling at that response, knowing that Harry wasn't listening to them, and Draco joined in, because it was funny, even if Hermione was muggleborn.

Draco and Hermione continued chatting and fawning over Cereus' every move until Cereus started pooping, again. "Merlin Harry, what did you feed this kid while I was asleep?" Draco asked, handing the baby over to Harry.

Harry scooped Cereus up and said, "I'll go change her."

"I'll go with you," Hermione said, taking the opportunity to have a moment alone to talk to Harry and following him into the nursery.

Harry strapped Cereus into the changing table and pulled out the wipes, before setting to work changing the vile nappy. "Thanks Hermione; I really appreciate you getting along with Draco," he said as he wiped.

"Oh it's my pleasure. He's not nearly as bad as I thought he'd be and I'm actually enjoying myself. That's sort of what I wanted to talk to you about; that's why I came back here," Hermione said.

"So it wasn't for my superior nappy changing abilities?" Harry teased as he continued to wipe and kept coming away with more yellow fecal matter.

"No, but Draco seems really into this baby thing, doesn't he? I mean I know he's pregnant, but I can tell he definitely wants a baby. He'll be a great mother, Harry, I'm sure," Hermione replied.

"That's great Hermione! It's such a relief that you can see what I see in him," Harry said.

"Oh and I wanted to thank you for letting me come over; I would've just been bored stuck in the common room by myself with Ron serving his last detention and all of my homework done."

"It's Ron's last detention already? It seems like the month has just flown by."

"Because it wasn't you in detention this time. Here, let me get those," Hermione offered, grabbing the enormous pile of soiled wipes and tossing them into the bin. "She really lets loose, doesn't she?"

"Oh this is nothing compared to what she did earlier; it was leaking out the nappy and we had to give her a bath and everything. It was so bad I was worried Draco was gonna vomit," Harry replied, finally wiping Cereus' bum and coming up with a clean wipe, so he pulled out a new nappy and started fastening it into place. Hermione took the last of the dirty wipes and tossed those away with the others.

"I hadn't thought of that. Are you doing all of the nappy changes then?"

"All of the smelly ones at least, though Draco's done his share of the piss ones. That reminds me, Hermione, earlier I smelt something awful, but Cereus' nappy was empty; do baby's fart?" Harry asked, pulling Cereus' onesie down and snapping it into place, before setting to work getting those kicking legs back into her pajamas.

"Yes, of course."

"Oh good. I didn't know that, but that's a relief."

"Did Cereus, um, let one rip?"

"Definitely. I was just glad Draco was asleep in the other room at the time, because it was that bad," Harry answered, struggling with the last of the snaps.

Hermione laughed and they went back to Draco in the sitting room.

"All clean," Harry said, handing Cereus over to Draco.

"Thanks," Draco replied, leaning up and giving Harry a quick kiss.

Hermione took the seat next to Draco once more and Harry reclaimed his earlier armchair.

"Draco, I am so envious of you and Harry getting the chance to take one of your babies to the next level. Cereus just seems so life-like in this stage. I wish Ron and I had one with enough points to try it," Hermione gushed.

"Well you could always take a parenting class after the war," Draco suggested.

"Do parenting classes come with these babies then?" Hermione wondered.

"Of course; that's where mother learned all of the ins and outs," Draco answered, offering his finger to Cereus. The baby reached out and struggled with the hand-eye coordination at first, but eventually grabbed hold of it with her little fist.

"Well then I'll definitely have to," Hermione agreed, watching Cereus with a look of adoration on her face. "I wonder what your sons are going to look like. I bet they're just adorable."

"Of course they'll be adorable; they're Malfoys," Draco answered softly, without his normal smugness.

"Yes, of course," Hermione agreed. "I do hope you and Harry will let me come over and see them all the time."

Harry held his breath as he waited for Draco's reply; he wanted Hermione to be able to spend time with his children, but what would Draco say?"

"Of course," Draco replied simply. "Neither Harry nor I have any siblings, so I was thinking you could be the aunt." Draco wanted to show Harry that he was accepting of Hermione, so that he had a firm foothold when he started his campaign to kick Weasley out of Harry's life. Hermione he could stand, but Weasley would have to go. In Draco's opinion, Harry had been spending far too much time lately with Weasley.

Harry let out the breath he had been holding and beamed at Draco. He couldn't believe that Draco had just asked a muggle-born to be the aunt to their children, like it was the most obvious thing in the world; where had blood purity gone?

"Really?" Hermione asked hopefully."

"Yes," Draco replied, looking up at Hermione curiously. Did she not want to be the aunt?

"Oh that would be just wonderful! Thank you so much," Hermione exclaimed excitedly, carefully hugging Draco, without smashing the baby.

Being hugged by Hermione was a bit strange at first for Draco, but it wasn't much different from being hugged by Pansy, Milli, or Tracey, except for all of the bushy brown hair blocking his vision. He was proud of himself for winning Harry's friend over, so he looked over at Harry with a smug self-satisfied smile. 'Now let's see Harry win over one of my friends,' he thought.

"Thank you Draco," Harry said sincerely. "Are you planning on asking anyone else to be the aunt or uncle?"

"Not until after the war," Draco replied.

"Who?" Harry asked, hoping that it wasn't Crabbe, Goyle, or Parkinson. He didn't know the other Slytherins very well, but he knew he didn't like those three.

"I haven't decided yet. It sort of depends on who accepts us," Draco answered timidly. He had a feeling Blaise, Theo, and Tracey would all be okay with it, but they weren't his best friends. His very best friends, Pansy, Vince, and Greg, were all blood purists. He hoped they would be okay with it, but he didn't know if they would.

"Oh Draco!" Hermione exclaimed, taking Draco into another hug; this one meant to be comforting.

Harry wanted to hug Draco too, but he was too far away and Hermione seemed to be doing a good enough job with it that he decided to sit back and watch.

Draco sniffled and accepted Hermione's hug. He felt awkward about it, but it was nice enough.

"I know this must be hard on you; not being able to tell your friends. And you may lose some of them, but after the war your true friends will be left standing by you," Hermione assured him.

Draco wasn't so sure about that and quite thought it would be the other way around, with his true friends either dead or turning their backs on him and his other friends moving in to fill their places. But he didn't want to say it, so he just nodded and looked down at Cereus, who was now asleep. "I'm gonna go lay Cereus down in her crib," Draco said.

Draco got up with the baby and left the room. Hermione scooted closer to where Harry was and whispered, "Do you think he'll be okay? I shouldn't have…" She wasn't sure what she shouldn't have done, so she let it trail off.

"It's okay; he'll be fine," Harry assured her, but then realized how late it was. He got up and went to the icebox to sort out a snack for Draco. "It's getting late and Draco normally goes to sleep in half an hour."

"Oh, okay. I should get going," Hermione said as Draco walked back into the sitting room without the baby.

"Yeah, okay Hermione. Draco, Dobby left cheese and apples; is that alright or do you want me to get something else?" Harry asked.

"That's fine." Draco took the plate from Harry and sat down in the spot that had been Harry's, since Hermione was currently sitting in his.

"I have to go Draco, but I wanted to thank you for letting me over; I've enjoyed myself immensely and I hope we can do this again sometime," Hermione said standing up.

"You're welcome," Draco replied and let Hermione hug him again.

Harry walked Hermione out and made sure the door was closed behind her, before going back to Draco, who was still eating in the sitting room. Harry stood behind Draco and wrapped his arms around Draco's neck, leaning over to give Draco a soft kiss on the cheek.

"I had a really nice time tonight; thank you," Harry said.

"You're welcome," Draco replied and continued eating.

"Draco, why didn't you ask Hermione to be the godmother, instead of the aunt?" Harry asked.

"My family doesn't really do godparents. If we both die, I want my mother to raise our children, not Hermione. Hermione's like your sister, so that's why I asked her to be the aunt," Draco explained.

"I don't really mind your mum being around our children, but I wouldn't want Lucius raising them."

"Then don't die."

"Draco, sometimes death happens."

"Look, I trust my mother. I know that if there's a problem with father and we're both dead, she'll take care of it. She'll raise the babies by herself if she needs to," Draco said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Harry decided to drop it for now. He still didn't want Lucius raising his children if he and Draco were dead, even if Narcissa thought it was alright, but he could wait a while before bringing it up again. Maybe in a few months Draco will have forgiven Ron, warmed up to the Weasley family, and be willing to make Ron and Hermione the godparents.

* * *

Author's note: I'd like to clear the godfather issue up. I know that generally Drarry fics like to make Snape Draco's godfather, but that is a deviation from canon. And while I don't mind reading stories with that deviation, it doesn't fit in this story. That being said, I see no obvious candidate for who Draco's godparents would be. With the pureblood emphasis on family, I think it's possible that Draco's grandparents would be charged with taking care of him if something were to happen to his parents. Therefore Draco would do the same and leave his children to Narcissa and Lucius should something happen to him and Harry.


	58. Chapter 58

Author's Note: This chapter has been censored. To read the full version, go to AO3; you can find the link on my profile page.

Thank you Belldandy55555 and Jo for providing feedback!

* * *

Harry and Draco each did their nightly routine and then cuddled up into bed together.

"I set a monitoring spell on the baby. You need to listen for when it goes off," Draco said, before closing his eyes.

"I will," Harry assured Draco and gave Draco one last kiss, before closing his own eyes and drifting off to sleep.

Harry woke up when Draco hit him. Harry wasn't sure what was going on and then Draco kicked him and said, "Get up already Potter."

"Huh? What?" Harry asked, pulling back to avoid Draco's arm as it came at him again.

"You said you'd get up with the baby!" Draco complained. He was supposed to be asleep and Harry was supposed to get up with the baby, but Harry was ignoring the alarm and the cries from the other room.

"I will. I'm up. Why're you hitting me?" Harry asked, jumping up and hearing the alarm announcing that the baby needed to be fed for the first time.

"Because you're starving the baby!" Draco complained. "Go feed her already or are you gonna make me get up?"

"Oh, yeah, I'll go now," Harry said walking towards the bathroom to cut across to the nursery. "Go back to sleep."

Harry went and fed Cereus. Draco lay back down and closed his eyes still angry that Harry had tried to sleep right through the alarm. 'Next time I'm gonna give Harry a pillow and a sleeping bag and tell him to sleep on the floor of the nursery. Stupid heavy sleeping Potters,' Draco thought to himself before falling back to sleep.

Harry was up half the night with Cereus. He fed her, burped her, and changed her nappy. He sat in the rocking chair to rock her back to sleep, but the doll didn't go to sleep and started fussing instead. Nothing he tried worked. He tried feeding her a second time, but that was a bad job and just made the baby puke, which made a mess for him to clean up. It was hours before the baby finally fell asleep in her bouncer, but he didn't go back to bed, because by that time, he had fallen asleep in the rocking chair waiting.

Two and a half hours later Cereus was up again. Harry was so exhausted from lack of sleep at this point that he was on auto-pilot as he retrieved Cereus from the bouncer and fed her. He burped her, rocked her, and breathed out a sigh of relief as the doll _finally_ fell asleep in his arms. He wasted no time in putting her in the crib and snuggling back into the bed with Draco.

Draco woke up long before Cereus or Harry stirred. He got ready for the day, ate breakfast, and went into the study, pulling out his history of magic term paper. He got an hour and a half of work done before the monitoring charm finally went off. He went to take care of the baby, who had a fresh case of nappy rash, thanks to Harry's falling asleep on the job.

Harry seemed to be sleeping all morning, so after a few hours Draco set Cereus up in the bouncer on the floor in the sitting room. Draco retrieved his work from the study so that he could finish the section he had been working on, while it was still fresh in his mind. It took him forty-five minutes, but he managed it and put his things back in the study. He called Dobby to order lunch and dinner, before taking Cereus out of the bouncer and playing with her on the sofa. That was what he was doing when Harry finally woke up and joined him in the sitting room.

"Morning," Harry said, sitting next to Draco.

"Finally you're up. I was beginning to wonder if you were still alive," Draco teased.

"Yeah; I was up all night with Cereus."

"She didn't sleep?"

"She slept a bit, but she was up three times. Or was it two? I can't remember. She stayed up for _hours_ and wouldn't go back to sleep. She even vomited all over the place."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Draco said, leaning over to give Harry a soft kiss on the lips.

Harry wanted nothing more than to deepen the kiss and snog Draco senseless, but he hadn't brushed his teeth yet and he was worried he might have morning breath, so he pulled away and said, "I need to use the loo."

Draco nodded and watched Harry's pajama-clad arse as his boyfriend walked down the hall. When Harry came back out wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and Draco licked his lips at the sight.

"I can't wait until we can press the off button," Draco said with a suggestive leer.

"Hmm, sounds good. You know that we can put Cereus in that bouncer and spell it to entertain her for the next forty-five minutes," Harry suggested, taking the doll from Draco.

"You sound like you have personal experience with that," Draco replied as Harry strapped Cereus into the bouncer and spelled it to start.

"I do; that's what I did with her when I was half asleep and couldn't get her to stop crying." While Harry spoke, he walked back over to the sofa and placed his knees on either side of Draco, straddling Draco, but not putting any of his weight on the swell of Draco's belly. Then he leaned down and pressed his lips to Draco's, before pushing his tongue into that warm mouth.

They snogged for half an hour until they heard the pop indicating the arrival of lunch. When the two lovebirds pulled apart, Draco picked up Cereus and carried her out to the dining patio and Harry carried out the bouncer, setting it down near the table. Draco strapped Cereus back in and spelled the canopy to block out the harsh fake-sun rays from bothering the baby. Then the two boys sat down to eat.

Cereus napped while the boys ate, but she woke up when Draco took her out of the bouncer. He took her to the nursery and patted her to see if she would go back to sleep, but she fussed instead, so he fed and burped her. Harry sat in the rocker and watched, content to let Draco do all of the work.

While Draco was at the changing table, changing another wet nappy, he noticed that the rash was still there. He reapplied the ointment, looking over to Harry accusingly, and said, "I noticed you didn't bother changing her nappy during the night; she has a rash thanks to you."

"I did change her nappy!" Harry protested as Draco fastened on the new nappy.

"Yes and that's why her nappy was so sopping wet it was about to explode when she finally woke up," Draco replied sarcastically, refastening Cereus' clothes into place.

"Come sit with me," Harry said, indicating his lap.

Draco complied and sat, holding Cereus, on Harry's lap. Harry tried to think back to the last time he had changed the doll's nappy, but the night was such a sleepy blur. He couldn't count the number of times he'd done it, but he did remember that he had changed it at least once. "I know I changed her when she puked," he insisted.

Draco turned his head sideways, so that he could speak to Harry. "Once? She was up all night and you changed a newborn's nappy once? I'm gonna have to sic a house elf on you with the real babies." Then Draco switched to a high squeaky voice in imitation of Mipsy and said, "Master Harry Potter, sir, Master Draco Malfoy, sir, says you must be changing the young masters', sirs, nappies, sir."

"I think I did it every time I fed her, but I was so sleep deprived that I can't remember exactly, but I _know_ that I did it at least once," Harry clarified. "And can't you just order the house elves to change the nappies if you don't trust me to do it?"

Draco shifted his body sideways, so that he could more easily glare at Harry. "No, I'm not having house elf raised children! That's barbaric."

"What's the worst that could happen?"

"They'll grow up to talk and act like house elves with the burning desire to be servants and grovel at the feet of normal wizards."

"Oh, I didn't know that could happen," Harry said, wrapping his arms around Draco. "I won't let that happen."

"Good." Draco snuggled into Harry's lap, resting his head on Harry's shoulder and watched Cereus play with the soother she had taken out of her mouth.

The three of them were silent for several minutes, but then a burst of confetti engulfed them and they heard a jingle, as Cereus changed from a newborn to a three month old baby in Draco's arms. She was suddenly longer and heavier, but she stopped squirming the way she had been doing.

"She can be turned off now, right?" Harry asked excitedly. He couldn't wait until they could put the doll down and go wank, because he was already hard from having Draco in his lap and having Draco's soft bum move back and forth over his lap as he rocked.

"Yeah, but don't you want to see what new things she can do?" Draco asked.

Harry pulled Draco's hip down onto his crotch, so that Draco could feel what he wanted to do. "We can try her out later, but right now I want to take you to the other room and have my way with you," Harry whispered in a deep voice into Draco ear.

The words and movement sent chills down Draco's spine and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. "Yeah, okay," he replied, "Let me up."

Harry let Draco's hips go, so Draco got up and put the baby back into her crib, leaning over the rail to watch as her eyes closed and she went to sleep. They checked to make sure she turned off. Cereus' chest wasn't even moving up and down anymore as Harry stepped up behind Draco, putting his hands on either side of Draco's arms on the crib rail. Draco stood back up and Harry wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, kissing the back of Draco's neck.

"Bedroom," Draco murmured, leaning his neck to one side so that Harry could have access.

Harry sucked on the exposed side of Draco's supple neck for a few moments, before casting a lightening spell on Draco. Harry carried Draco bridal style to the bedroom and laid Draco on the bed. Suddenly it was all rush and need as Harry stood back up and hurriedly stripped his clothes off, before crawling onto the bed. Harry hovered over Draco and began tearing at Draco's clothes, as Draco tried to remove them as fast as he could.

Within moments, Draco's clothes were thrown onto the floor and Harry was on top of Draco, pressing their lips and crotches together. Draco was lying flat on the bed and Harry had his legs spread, with one knee on either side of Draco's legs. Harry had both hands on the bed, holding him up so that he wasn't putting too much weight on Draco. Harry began a quick and frantic rhythm, humping Draco.

*Censored.

Draco stretched Harry's arse, preparing him for the approaching wedding night. When Harry came, he fell down on top of Draco. Harry knew he was crushing Draco, by the grunting sound that his boyfriend emitted. Harry didn't want to hurt Draco, so he rolled over onto the bed; Draco's extended fingers slipping out in the process. Harry lay there by Draco's side as he caught his breath and came back to reality.

As soon as Harry was once again in control of his faculties, he turned around and pulled Draco into his arms. "Are you alright? Did I hurt you when I fell?" Harry asked anxiously.

"I'm fine," Draco reassured Harry.

The two of them lay there snuggling together until the fluids on their chests started to cool and crackle. "Want to take a bath?" Draco asked lazily.

"Yeah," Harry answered, but didn't get up right away.

They took a warm relaxing bubble bath together, just enjoying each other's arms in their post orgasmic euphoria.

After the bath, Draco ate a snack from the icebox. While Draco was eating, Harry noticed Draco was having trouble keeping his eyes open. Harry knew that Draco had been up all morning with Cereus, so he insisted on dragging his boyfriend back to bed. Harry had only been up for a few hours at this point, so he went to the study and pulled out his defense against the dark arts assignment and worked on it until dinner, when Draco finally woke up.

They enjoyed a pleasant meal together, before Draco returned to the Slytherin common room and Harry went to the abandoned classroom to meet Hermione, Luna, and Ginny.

I think I've found the perfect song!" Ginny announced, pulling out her wizard wireless radio.

"Let's hear it then," Harry encouraged.

"I thought you might like it. It's about flying, but I wasn't sure it would fit you and your boyfriend, because, well, I don't know who your boyfriend is. But I played it for Hermione and Luna yesterday and they both thought it fit. It's just so pretty and romantic and it has a great beat," Ginny said, setting up the song.

Ginny played the song and Harry listened intently. It was about two lovers who were opposites, except for their love of flight. Ginny was right in that it did have a bit of a beat, even though it was a slower love song. And it was a lovely duet, where the two lovers alternated singing lines to each other. It started off with their insurmountable beginnings of being total opposites and ended with the two lovers chasing dragons across the night sky.

"Let me hear it again," Harry requested with a smile on his face.

Ginny replayed the song and the grin on Harry's face grew as he realized that this song was perfect.

"You're right Ginny; it's wonderful," Harry said.

"Brilliant," Ginny replied beaming at Harry's compliment.

The four of them spent the next hour learning a pureblood five-step that went at the same pace as the song. Ginny thought the dance would be perfect, because any pureblood was sure to know it. Harry was sore by the time he finally made it back to Gryffindor tower, but he was ecstatically happy that he had found the right song and that he was learning to dance. Now if only he could perfect Ginny's five-step before the proposal and come up with the ideal speech in time for the big moment.

Later that night Harry was sitting in his favorite armchair by the fire in the Gryffindor common room with a gigantic goofy grin plastered over his face.

Hermione came up to Harry and said, "Harry, can we go someplace private and talk about the speech?"

"Yeah, sure," Harry replied, getting up.

The air was pregnant with suspense on the way to the room of requirement. Both teenagers were silent, because of their fear of being overheard. But once they were safely inside and sitting on the sofa of the lilac beach hut, Harry let out a deep sigh of anticipation and asked, "So, how far have you gotten?"

"Well I did some research and I went through your list you gave me. It seems that pureblood proposals run the gamut from the simple, "Will you marry me," to the epic speeches with reciting poetry or even singing. But I was thinking that for you, it will be better if it's short, that way you can memorize it and be confident in your speech. The books recommended a confident, concise, succinct, and direct speech over a long one," Hermione answered.

"That's great!" Harry replied enthusiastically. He had been worried about having to memorize and deliver a long speech and hearing this news took a lot of weight off of his chest.

"So basically the major points you need to hit are that you love him, want to spend the rest of your life with him, want to procreate with him, and are both willing and able to provide for him and any offspring you might have," Hermione said.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Harry replied.

"Good, then we can work on refining the speech. I wrote a couple of drafts that I want your opinion on. Now none of these has to be sublime, because once you pick the one you like the best we can revise it until it's just right. Or if you like two of them, we could combine them into one. Or if you don't like any of them, I can start over."

"Hermione, relax; I'm sure I'll love whatever you've written. I'm grateful that you're helping me out with this," Harry said.

Hermione nodded and the two of them got to work on the proposal speech. They finished the rough draft of the speech that night. It wasn't superb, but Harry felt really good about it. A few tweaks here and there and then he'd just have to memorize it.

* * *

Author's Note: The proposal is coming together! I'm going to try to get through the intervening week between here and the proposal in one chapter. Wish me luck!

Please Review!


	59. Chapter 59

Author's Note: This chapter has been censored. To read the full version, go to AO3; you can find the link on my profile page.

* * *

Monday after charms Harry went up to the room of requirement. He was feeling very optimistic about his proposal, because he had already gotten in a bit of dance practice and worked on his speech today. He and Ginny had squeezed in half an hour of dance during lunch. And he had some spare time during his free period after writing the rough draft of his herbology essay, leaving him time to work on his speech. He thought about practicing his dance steps or working on his speech now, but Draco was due to arrive any moment and he didn't want to get caught, so he pulled out his herbology essay to revise instead.

Draco arrived thirty minutes later; he was always a bit late coming from history of magic. When Harry heard the door open, he quickly abandoned his school work and ran out to greet Draco with a hug. They went to the bedroom, where Harry gave Draco a backrub, while Draco munched on carrot sticks and orange slices.

"So what'd you do today?" Harry asked, working the tension out of Draco's muscles.

"Potions and then I came up here and worked on my term paper for history of magic until lunch. Then history of magic class. Oh and I got a letter from father this morning."

"And? What'd he say?"

"Grandmother Druella's absence has been noticed. I stopped by Professor Snape's office and showed it to him. He confirmed that Grandmother Druella, although being very opinionated and free-spirited, went into hiding with Mother. He said they didn't give her the secret, so that she won't be able to turn on us if she changes her mind. He said Mother took her straight into the house by side-along."

"That's great! I'm glad your grandmum is safe."

"Yeah, apparently Aunt Bella hadn't bothered checking in with her in over a week, so she's mostly had no one but the house elves for company since mother disappeared. But then Aunt Bella must've finally remembered her aging mother right after Mother and Professor Snape rescued her, because word already got back to Father."

"That's too bad that she was alone. Your grandmum doesn't have any old lady friends to keep her company?"

"She has a few, but old Mrs. Rosier was ill. Mrs. Crabbe is currently out of the country. And Mrs. Yaxly and Mrs. Lestrange are staying with relatives that aren't pleased with Grandmother's pro-Death Eater stance; actually Mrs. Lestrange is pretty funny in her rants about her horrible son and his crazy wife and what a bad influence Aunt Bella is on her precious son."

"I think I like her."

"You should; she's always going on about what a good little savior you are, mark her words, you'll go far. My grandmother said, yeah, far into the beyond when her Lord finally gets around to snuffing your lights out."

"Your grandmum sounds very charming."

"Is that a joke Potter? Are you making fun of my only living grandmother? You think it's cool to make fun of old people?"

"No, um, I'm sure she's charming if she's related to you."

"Oh, good save, but I'm on to you."

"Are you now?" Harry asked, leaning down and placing a kiss on Draco's shoulder blade, before trailing kisses over to Draco's neck and sucking on the tender flesh.

"Hm…so this is your plan then? Try to use your flattery of my grandmother to seduce me?" Draco asked in between moans.

"Is it working?"

"Mmmm" Draco replied, too caught up in the delicious sensation of Harry's mouth on his skin to formulate a reply.

"I'll take that as a yes," Harry replied and moved to Draco's mouth. They snogged deeply.

Harry broke the kiss just long enough to pull off his clothes and then he was right back on Draco, pushing his lips into Draco's lips and his tongue into Draco's mouth, running his hands along Draco's sides. Draco's skin blushed pink and Draco's head turned away, gasping for air.

Harry gave Draco a few minutes to catch his breath, before asking, "Can we try something new today?"

"Something new, like your mouth on my bits?" Draco asked, still panting slightly.

"No, not like that. I was thinking; there are less than two weeks left before our wedding and we should practice."

"I already told you no sex before our wedding night.  
"No, not sex. Here, let me get my book and I'll show you," Harry said before summoning his sex book from his backpack.

Harry turned to the section on how to practice the movement of penetrative sex without actually having penetrative sex. It showed one man lying on his stomach on a bed and another lying over him, with his legs on the outside of the first man's legs. The second man was grinding back and forth along the crevice of the first man's arse, between the two cheeks. The scene played for a few seconds and then looped back and played again.

"And which one of those men do you expect me to be?" Draco asked with a gulp.

"The top one of course. See, it's basically the same motion as real sex, just without actually entering me. This way we can get used to it now and avoid the awkwardness when the big night comes."

"And you actually want me to rub my dick along your arse, why? What do you get out of it?" Draco asked, thinking that this must be a trick, because there was no way anyone would willingly let someone else defile their bum for no reason.

"I get to feel you against my arse and when it's over, I'll get to feel your fingers in me."

"Don't you think your arse cheeks will be sore if I do that? Won't it hurt?"

"No, we'll use lube."

"And if it hurts?"

"If it hurts I'll stop you and we can do something else." Harry waited for Draco to either agree to it or offer another reason why they shouldn't, but Draco just sat there saying nothing. "What's wrong?"

"It's just creepy, okay?"

"This position is creepy?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because one person is _using_ the other person in a way that can't possibly be pleasurable," Draco said. He got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach when he watched the one boy in the picture using the other boy and he didn't want to try it.

"I think it looks hot," Harry replied, but quickly flipped the page until he found an alternative position. "But what about this one? It's almost the same and I bet that feels good."

Draco watched the new picture for a minute as it ran through its loop multiple times. "It's kinda like dry humping, just not facing each other," he said as he considered it.

"Yeah, it is," Harry said breathlessly as he watched. The men were hot and he was ready to jump Draco already.

"What's wrong with regular dry humping? I like that, because then I can see your face." Draco didn't know why he was still protesting, but something just didn't feel right about it.

"Yeah, that's good too. But we've done that loads of times and I want to try something new. What's the big deal? It's not sex; it's practice."

"Okay, fine, I'll try it," Draco conceded.

"Great!" Harry exclaimed and lay flat on the bed on his stomach, before casting a lubrication charm on his bits.

"So I just kneel behind you and stick it between your legs, right?" Draco asked, straddling Harry's arse.

"Yeah." Harry's heart rate picked up with his anticipation; Draco was about to actually hump him!

Draco gave it a go, but he quickly became dizzy and lay down next to Harry, panting for breath and trying to regain control of himself.

"What's wrong?" Harry turned onto his side to look at his boyfriend, who seemed to be bright red and struggling for breath.

Draco took another minute to recuperate enough to answer. "I think we're doing it backwards."

"Do you want me to turn over onto my back and you hump me?"

"No."

"Draco, I told you that we need to practice! If we do it the normal way then I'll be on top again and you won't get any practice being on top."

"I don't like being on top; my head spins and I can't think," Draco admitted.

"Then what are you saying?" Harry asked, wondering if Draco was suggesting that Draco should bottom, or if Draco was suggesting they should never have sex.

"I'm saying I should be on the bottom when we have sex, just like I'm on the bottom when we wank or hump."

"Do you…um…want me to bugger you?" Harry asked with a gulp.

"What! No!" Draco exclaimed and pulled back from Harry offended.

"Then I don't understand," Harry replied, sitting up at Draco's movement.

"I want to lie down and for you to bugger yourself on me. Surely your sex book has that position; it seems to have all the others," Draco said crossing his arms over his chest. His book on Peverell pregnancies mentioned that position as being the best one for a pregnant man. If a pregnancy book mentioned it, then surely a sex book ought to list it.

"Oh, yeah! Yeah, we can do that! Of course we can. I'm sorry I even mentioned the other thing; I just didn't understand. I understand now and we'll do it your way." Harry was rambling.

"Good," Draco replied, letting his arms fall down to his sides.

"Then do you not want to do this practice position? I thought it looked hot, but if you're not comfortable, then we won't do it."

"It did look hot," Draco admitted. It had even felt okay; it was just his head that wouldn't cooperate.

"We could try it again if you want. You know, your head might not spin with a little bit of practice," Harry suggested hopefully.

"I want to lie on my stomach and you do it to me."

"Really?" Harry asked surprised.

"Really."

"Yeah, alright."

With that settled, Draco lay down on his stomach.

Harry cast the lubrication charm on Draco's bits this time and straddled Draco's arse. "Are you ready?" Harry asked, nibbling on Draco's neck from behind.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Okay, here I go."

*Censored

Harry humped Draco until he came and then he sucked Draco off, making Draco come too. Harry found his wand and cleaned them up, before lying down with Draco. Draco fell asleep in Harry's arms and then Harry silently snuck out of the bed. Harry went to the sitting room, cast a privacy charm so that Draco wouldn't overhear, and called Dobby.

"Yes Harry Potter sir?" Dobby asked apparating in.

"I need you to make a very nice dinner for me and Draco Saturday night. I'm going to propose Dobby," Harry said and the elf squealed happily. "Calm down Dobby!"

"Oh sir! Dobby is calming down sir! It is such an honor, sir, that you are proposing to Draco Malfoy, sir, and asking Dobby for help, sir."

Harry let the little elf squeal and thank him and even kiss his feet, before pulling the elf up and asking, "So you'll help me Dobby?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Dobby is helping you, sir!"

"Good. Now do you know what you'll make? It has to be very nice and something he likes, but it can't be chicken."

"Oh yes sir! It is Malfoy tradition, sir, that we elves make steaks and roast beef with rosemary roasted red potatoes, gravy, green salad, pumpkin soup, dinner rolls, grilled asparagus, and peach cobbler with ice cream for the proposal ball, sir. And of course the full bar with red and white elf made wine and champagne, sir."

"I'm not having a ball Dobby; it's just gonna be me and Draco and one dance in the room of requirement. That sounds like a lot of food and Draco's pregnant, so I don't want any alcohol."

"Dobby can get sparkling grape juice, sir!"

"Good and I only want about half that amount of food. Which of that does Draco like best?"

They cut the food list in half, only keeping Draco's favorites. When they had the menu worked out, Dobby said, "Dobby will make everything perfect sir!"

"I know you will Dobby; I'm counting on you."

"Dobby will not let you down, sir."

"Brilliant. Is there anything else I should know about Malfoy proposals? Any traditions maybe?"

"Before the proposal the couple dances together and then the Malfoy parents, Lord and Lady, dance with the Malfoy couple, sir and mam, sir."

"What if the parents aren't there? Is it okay if we don't do that one?"

"Dobby does not know sir," Dobby said pulling his ears.

"It's alright Dobby. Tell me about another Malfoy tradition."

"Well there is peacock ringing, sir."

"Peacock ringing Dobby?"

"Yes, sir. It's a sport where all of the honored guests, sirs and mams, throw rings at the peacocks and try to get the ring around the peacock's neck, sir."

"Err, I don't think I want to try that sport." Harry thought it sounded awful and wondered how many peacocks were injured during a typical Malfoy proposal ball.

"Yes sir. And there's hunting sir."

"Hunting Dobby?" Harry asked with a gulp, thinking the Malfoys hunted the peacocks.

"Yes, wild boar hunting, sir, for the post-engagement feast the next day, sir. All of the wizards, sirs, go out the morning of the ball and hunt wild boar in the woods surrounding the Manor, sir."

"But Lucius is in jail. I don't think Draco has any male relatives, besides Rodolphus Lestrange and I'm not inviting him. Does Draco even like to hunt?"

"No, sir. Lucius Malfoy, sir, always said that when the day came, he would take Draco Malfoy, sir, fishing instead and that we elves would serve fish instead of boar for the feast, sir."

"Oh, does he like to fish with a line then?" Harry asked, remembering when he had gone spear fishing with Draco and wondering if Draco also enjoyed regular finishing.

"Not as much as Draco Malfoy, sir, likes spear fishing, sir, but much more than he likes hunting, sir."

"But then there's still the problem of not having any male relatives to invite."

"Ted Tonks, sir, is a male relative, sir."

"You're right Dobby! Thank you. Are there any more traditions?" Harry said, wondering if Ted Tonks knew how to fish, because he certainly didn't. He could just picture Uncle Vernon sinking a rowboat with his prodigious weight, fishing pole in hand and that wasn't even mentioning Dudley.

"At the end of the dessert, the proposer hands the proposee a bunch of viscaria flower as an invitation to dance, sir."

"What do viscaria looked like Dobby?"

"Like this," Dobby snapped his fingers and a bunch of flowers appeared in his hands.

The flowers ranged in color from pink to blue, had five petals, and looked so common that Harry couldn't picture the Malfoy family appreciating them. "Are you sure about this Dobby?" Harry asked skeptically.

"Yes sir, Dobby is sure sir. This flower means that you are asking to dance, sir, and after the dessert you are to dance, sir.

"Alright, thanks Dobby. Is that all of the traditions?"

"Yes sir."

Harry dismissed Dobby and Dobby thanked Harry for letting him make the dinner, again, and disapparated.

Harry went into the study and wrote Tonks a letter. He wanted to know if she could ask her father to come to Hogwarts for a day of fishing with Draco. He had the letter halfway written when it suddenly occurred to him that he didn't want Tonks to know that he was proposing to Draco. Tonks' mum knew, but Tonks herself didn't know and Harry didn't know whether Ted knew or not. In the end Harry destroyed the letter and wrote to Narcissa instead, because she was in contact with her sister. While he was at it, he disclosed all of his proposal plans so far. He hoped that she would be able to point out any flaw with his plans in addition to the help with the fishing problem.

Z

The rest of the week was relatively uneventful. Draco spent all of his time working on his history of magic term paper, trying to get it done before the wedding. Harry spent every spare moment either practicing his dance or his speech. On Thursday Draco had enough of his term paper and took a break. When Harry arrived at the room of requirement, he found Draco on the beach with Cereus.

Harry stopped to watch as his boyfriend played with the doll in the water. They were each wearing swimsuits and Draco was standing in waist deep water, holding Cereus carefully in his arms as she kicked and splashed her feet in the gentle waves. Draco had a huge smile on his face as he looked down at the doll, who was squealing with delight. Then Draco looked up and saw Harry on the beach.

"Come on in, the water's nice," Draco said, motioning Harry over with his head.

"Alright; just let me change first," Harry agreed.

Harry rushed into the beach bedroom and changed into his swim trunks as quickly as possible, before racing back out to join Draco in the ocean. He waded into the warm water and wrapped his arms around Draco, who was still holding Cereus. They shared a sensual kiss that made his lips tingle with delight.

"What made you decide to take Cereus in the water?" Harry wondered as he pulled back from the kiss.

"She's old enough now, so it's safe," Draco answered with a shrug. "Ever since last weekend I've been dying for a chance to try some of the new things with her."

"She does seem to be happy," Harry replied, pressing a soft kiss to Draco's cheek. He had never seen the doll laugh, squeal, or giggle before, like she was doing now.

"Yeah, she does. I was halfway through another section of my term paper and I couldn't take it anymore; I really needed a break."

Harry and Draco spent another fifteen minutes in the water, alternating between snogging and watching Cereus play with the waves. Then they went into the nursery and put Cereus into a stationary entertainer. They watched her play with it and dangled rattles in front of her, eager to see her little hand darting out to grab hold of the toys. Draco laughed and smiled as Cereus took the rattle from him and put it straight into her mouth to gum. Harry watched Draco fondly, but what he really wanted to do was snog Draco senseless and wank Draco until Draco was cumming all over the place.

It wasn't much longer until Draco put the baby back into her crib and let Harry lead him into the bedroom for a wank. Harry humped Draco until they were both cumming and then Draco stretched Harry's arse and made Harry cum a second time. Draco fell asleep and Harry went into the study to practice his dancing. While he was dancing, an owl flew into the room of requirement and landed on the windowsill of the paneless window in the study. Harry went over to the window, retrieved the scroll, and sent the owl on its way.

It was from Narcissa and Harry forgot all about dancing as he read the reply to his letter. Narcissa approved of his proposal plans, but shot down his idea about asking Ted Tonks to come to visit for a fishing trip. After the incident with Molly Weasley, Narcissa had ordered her sister Andromeda not to tell anyone about the wedding and that included Ted. Harry was disappointed, but then it was better if fewer people knew. He tucked the letter away in his backpack where Draco wouldn't find it and went back to practicing his dance steps.

Friday passed similar to Wednesday, with Draco hard at work on his history of magic term paper in the room of requirement. Harry pulled out his potions homework and waited patiently for Draco to finish. Harry finished that assignment and looked over to find Draco still hard at work, munching on carrot sticks. Harry pulled out his charms homework with a groan as he wondered when his boyfriend would ever be done with that blasted term paper. Harry thanked Merlin that he had dodged the history of magic bullet; he couldn't take that NEWT even if he wanted to, thanks to his Troll in the subject.

Friday afternoon was almost over by the time Draco finally finished that section of his term paper. He went into the sitting room and grabbed a yogurt out of the icebox. Harry didn't even finish the sentence he was writing; he took off after Draco and began rubbing Draco's back while his boyfriend ate. They had thirty minutes left, which Harry managed to convince Draco to fill with wanking and arse stretching.

After dinner Harry had one last dance practice with the girls. They had a double session and spent two entire hours dancing, before they called it quits. Then Luna informed Harry of her preparation for the séance and walked him through the steps they would need to take the next day.

And then Harry realized that Luna wanted into the room of requirement right before the proposal dinner and said, "Luna, that's not gonna work: I'm planning on spending the afternoon with him. You'll have to do the séance now or in the morning."

"Now will work," Luna agreed.

Luna and Harry went to the room of requirement together. He asked for the Malfoy Manor and led Luna into the garden. He sat at the picnic table and watched Luna complete her silly ritual. When she was done, he tried to rush her back out of the room, so that she wouldn't realize where they were, but she stopped.

Luna was looking at the distinctive front gates with the M and said, "This place looks familiar. I think I've been here with my mother once when I was very young. This is the Macmillan family estate, isn't it?"

"Um, I can't answer that Luna," Harry replied, grateful for Luna's mistake.

"Oh yes, I know. Forget I asked," Luna replied with a smirk and then they were off again, heading towards the door to the room of requirement.

* * *

Author's Note: This was the last of Harry's dance lessons. The next chapter will be the day of the proposal!


	60. Chapter 60

It was _finally_ Saturday. The first thing Harry did when he woke up was go to the room of requirement and check that all of his plans were ready. The room made the garden of Malfoy Manor and played Ginny's love song for him. He practiced his dance steps in the clearing in the middle of the garden and practiced his speech in the gazebo. He required the room to provide him with the right flowers and settled on a nice blue color. Finally he called Dobby and double-checked that dinner would be ready on time.

Everything seemed to be perfect and Harry wasn't supposed to meet Draco until lunch, so he spent the morning with Ron and Hermione. When it was time, Harry changed into shorts and a t-shirt, but also stuffed his dress robes into his backpack. And then he realized he hadn't tried his dress robes on in over two years and he began to worry that they might not fit anymore.

Harry went to the room of requirement twenty minutes early, but there was a door already there. Inside he found the British beach shack room. Ginny and Luna were inside, playing with their dolls in the nursery. He kicked the girls out and they wished him luck on the proposal.

Harry requested his lilac beach room and went back inside. He let out a sigh of relief as his island paradise was restored and then tried on his dress robes. They were too small, but he managed to expand the width and length enough to look alright. Then he cast a steam charm to get out the wrinkles.

Harry was just hanging up his robes in the closet when Draco arrived. Harry rushed outside and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend.

"Dobby should be here in a few minutes with lunch. Why don't you go change," Harry suggested. Draco was wearing school robes.

"Yeah, alright," Draco replied, heading into the bedroom to change.

When Draco came back out, a shrimp pasta dish was waiting for him on the table. Harry held out Draco's chair for him and they tucked in to eat.

While they ate, Harry listened to Draco's story about a big fight his friends were having; Draco's friends were also getting married and were still debating back and forth over the proposal contract.

"Daphne told Theo that she wanted to change the number of children they would have from five, which was her idea in the first place mind you, to one. Theo said back that they ought to have at least two. So then Daphne said fine, but told Theo that Nott is a stupid last name and that they should take her last name! Can you believe that?" Draco asked indignantly and Harry shook his head. "And here I was thinking we'd be the ones who couldn't agree on the terms of a contract. At least you agreed to take my last name."

Harry accidentally spit out his pumpkin juice in surprise. "I agreed to what!?"

"You agreed to change your last name to Malfoy. You know, Lord Draco and Mister Harry _Malfoy_. You already signed the contract; are you telling me you don't know what you signed?" Draco asked indignantly.

"Um, I thought I did. I must have missed that," Harry replied, starting to recover from the news.

"Don't tell me you've changed your mind; the wedding is next week and we'll never get the contract revised in time. And then we won't all have the same last name and the children will always be asking me why you're not part of the family…" Draco trailed off and did his best to look like he was about to cry, in order to guilt Harry into going along with him, because it always worked for mother. Father would always refuse mother's demands if she asked for them, but if she said father had already agreed and started to cry when father tried to take it back, she'd get her way in the end. That was why Mr. Shafiq, their lawyer, worded this particular clause in a confusing way at Draco and Narcissa's behest.

"I can't believe I okayed something like this!"

"You agreed to it weeks ago! It was right on top," Draco protested. He had looked over Harry's shoulder and read the letter from Harry's lawyer explaining the changes to the contract.

"I did? Was this in the first pile of changes you made?" Harry asked, thinking that it had to be or there was no way he would've missed something like this. The very first list of changes was very long and extensive. It was mostly about things Harry didn't care about or understand, like whose Christmas party they would attend, what they would serve for Boxing Day, how many formal balls they would have a year, and what kind of flowers they would have in the garden.

"Yes and it was right on top! In fact, I know I left my copy in this room," Draco said and required the room to provide him with the document. The very long parchment scroll appeared rolled up by his plate. He unfurled it and read until he found the point of interest. He pointed to it and handed the scroll over to Harry. "Here it is."

Harry read the item Draco was pointing to, but didn't understand half of the words, although he did gather enough that it probably did say what Draco said it did. "I think I must've skipped over this one, because I didn't understand all of the big words," Harry admitted, blushing sheepishly.

"Which words exactly do you find to be big? Postliminary nuptials? Appropriate Malfoy Patronymic?"

"Yeah, those ones," Harry replied, not knowing the definition to about half of those words.

"Seriously?" Draco asked, wondering if Harry really was this easy to get one over on. Now that he knew that all he had to do was use three to four syllable words and Harry wouldn't understand and would skip over it, he would be able to avoid so many future arguments. "You don't know all of those words?"

"No and we haven't exactly been taking English class here Draco, so I don't see how I'm supposed to know them all."

"I learned this in primary school. I guess that goes to show why private schooling is so important; just make sure that you _never_ sign anything without my approval."

"Yeah, okay. Do you really think I should be Harry Malfoy?" Harry asked, trying out the sound of the proposed name for the first time. It sounded weird to him and he was wondering if he could ever get used to it.

"Yes, don't you? You don't want to go around being known as Harry Potter, the _boy_ who lived for the rest of your life, do you? I thought you'd welcome being Harry Malfoy, the _man_ who made his own name," Draco replied, trying to manipulate Harry into agreeing.

Harry thought about that for the next ten minutes while they ate. It would be nice to get away from the fame he never wanted for doing something he couldn't remember, but it was such a drastic change and he couldn't picture being a Malfoy. Malfoys were pureblooded rich snobs and the simple orphan boy with his hand-me-downs sounded out of place next to them. And then Harry thought that he would have the _same_ last name as Lucius and almost choked on a piece of shrimp as he suddenly burst into a fit of laughter.

"What's so funny?" Draco asked.

"Imagine the look on your dad's face when he gets out of Azkaban and finds out that my last name is the same as his! I can just see the family portrait of you and me holding our sons and your mum beaming down at us and your dad with his scowl, wondering how this all happened."

Draco smiled at the humor in the image, but he couldn't bring himself to laugh, because he was far too worried about how his father would react. He had nightmares where his father reacted badly and booted him, Harry, and their children out of the family for being blood traitors and halfbloods.

"Alright, when do I change my name? Surely not until after Voldemort's death." Harry still wasn't sure if he could go through with it, but he thought he might do it just to see the look on Lucius' face. Plus, his sons were going to be Malfoys and he fancied the idea of the entire family having the same last name; at least Draco _was_ claiming him, which was a lot better than the alternative.

"We sign all of the paperwork next week, after the ceremony. And yes, I'll sit on it until the Dark Lord is dead. You will be Harry Malfoy as of next week, but no one will know until you announce it and I send the paperwork in."

"Brilliant," Harry replied, reaching across the table to take Draco's free hand.

"So what do you want to do today?" Draco asked, finishing his pumpkin juice.

"I was thinking we could go fishing," Harry said. None of Draco's male relatives could come, but Harry could still take Draco fishing.

"Spear fishing?" Draco asked hopefully.

"Actually I was thinking line fishing; we've never tried to fish in the pond in the lilac forest."

"And there's a reason for that; line fishing is boring. There aren't any spears to throw or fish to look at, because the water is too murky."

"Let's just try it and if you're still bored, we can go spear fishing instead.

"Yeah, alright," Draco said standing up and walking into the lilac forest with Harry.

"I was hoping you'd spend the night with me again," Harry admitted as they approached the pond. There were two fishing poles and a tackle box on the shore, but he didn't know what to do with them, because he'd never been fishing before.

"I'll have to ask Pansy to cover for me again," Draco replied, opening up the tackle box and looking over the bait. He wanted to choose the very nastiest bit as his bait, so that Harry would be grossed out and not want to fish. The box was filled with worms and fish heads, but then Draco remembered how Grandfather Cygnus always preferred fishing with live pixie bait. He required the room to provide him with a pixie and hooked the tiny anthropomorphic figure onto his hook by the wings, being careful to avoid the teeth as the creature twisted and tried to bite him.

"Yeah, you could go ask Pansy before dinner and then come back and spend the evening with me. Draco, what are you doing?" Harry asked, trying not to freak out as Draco speared the little man's wings with the hook. Sure pixies were a pain, but they looked like little people and he couldn't imagine fishing with one.

"Grandfather Cygnus always said that live pixies make the best bait" Draco cast his line into the water and watched the little pixie furiously tread water in order to stay afloat. Of course that was what the pixie was supposed to do, because all of the movements would draw in the fish.

"But won't that hurt him?"

"He's a pixie; he's just an annoying vermin who happens to be shaped like a human."

"But he's terrified! Listen to his little screams!"

"Harry, we can stop fishing any time you like."

They watched a large fish come up and take a bite out of the pixie, spilling blue blood into the water and leaving just the head and torso attached to the hook.

"Yes, let's stop please," Harry said, feeling like he was going to be sick as the fish came back to finish the job.

"Whatever you want sweetheart," Draco said, quickly pulling up the line before the fish could bite, but throwing the remaining pixie bits back into the water so the fish could have them. He set his pole down on the ground and steered Harry back towards the house. "You're looking a bit green."

"Yeah; I've never been fishing before." Harry returned to his normal color as they exited the forest.

"Well we don't have to do that again. Besides, Grandfather Cygnus is dead and I'm happy to let his love of pole fishing lie with him." Draco led Harry over to the beach, hopeful that Harry's next idea would be as far away from fishing and that pond as possible. "So are you ready to try spear fishing or do you want to wait here a while?"

"Wait here for a minute," Harry said, sitting down on the sand. He took Draco's hand and guided his boyfriend to sit down on his lap, wrapping his arms around Draco.

They went spear fishing, but Harry didn't catch anything. Then they came back to shore for a snack.

While Draco was eating, he asked, "Do you want to play with Cereus for a while or did you have something else in mind?

The thought of practicing occlumency came to Harry's mind, but he didn't want to risk Draco finding out what he was up to, so he didn't mention that. Instead he agreed to practice with Cereus. This time they required a highchair of the room and practiced feeding the doll mush. The mush got everywhere, including on Harry's glasses, so the exercise was followed by giving Cereus a bath and the liberal use of cleaning charms.

Once Cereus was redressed, Draco put her back in the crib and said, "I'm hungry."

"It's almost dinner time. Here, let me vanish the mess from your shirt and then you can go tell Parkinson to cover for you," Harry said, before performing a cleaning spell on Draco's clothes.

They shared one last lingering kiss, before Draco left, heading down to the dungeons and Harry exited the room of requirement, to turn it into another room completely.

Harry reentered the room to find Draco's house. He went to the garden and then remembered that he'd left his clothes in the lilac beach room. He was about to exit the room and reenter it again, when his dress robes appeared on the picnic table. He changed quickly and his summer clothes disappeared once they were off of him. Harry wished he could check his appearance in a mirror and then one appeared right there in the garden. His hair was a mess, so he performed his grooming spell.

Once he was satisfied with his appearance, Harry set about making the room perfect. He pulled the engagement ring with the Potter family crest out of his backpack and slipped it into the pocket of his robes. He imagined a dark red table cloth covering the picnic table and it did. He imagined the mirror vanishing and it was gone. He pictured romantic candles and a beautiful bouquet of ivory colored roses on the table and they appeared. Then he required the room to play his song and practiced dancing by himself one last time.

The song was just ending when Draco entered the room. He knew something was off before he even entered, because the door was different. Instead of the typical snake covered door with the silver handle, it was a black wrought iron handle decorated with green and silver dragons, reminding him of the Malfoy crest. He opened the door and immediately had the feeling he was back home at the Manor. He stepped inside and tentatively called out, "Harry! Are you here?" as he wondered if he was really seeing the Manor inside the room of requirement or if his eyes were playing tricks on him.

Draco hadn't been home since the start of the school year. When he had left the Manor to board the Hogwarts Express, he didn't know when he would be able to come back to his family home. He had always lived in this ornate manor home, but he was a Death Eater now and was required to be at the Dark Lord's side, wherever that was. And even worse, Lucius had invited the Dark Lord to stay at the Manor, if the Dark Lord wished, which meant his home was not safe from desecration. There was a chance that when the war was over, his home would be destroyed. That was why he had decided to pack everything in the Manor up, shove it into two bags he had with undetectable expansion charms, and cart it all to school with him in his trunk. Maybe it was a bit drastic, but at least this way he knew his possessions were safe.

With all of that on his mind, Draco took in the replication of his home with mixed feelings. It made him home sick and he longed to return to the real Manor, but it was also nice, because even the replica felt like home. He didn't know why Harry had done it, but he assumed it was a romantic gesture.

"I'm over here, in the garden," Harry called out, as the last notes of the song died out.

Draco slowly walked over to the garden, looking at his home in the background and wondering why Harry would transform the room into his home. Just what sort of romantic evening did Harry have in mind?

Draco took so long to walk the five hundred yards to the picnic table that Harry was about to go after Draco, even though it was Draco's house and Draco should know where the garden was located. But then the food appeared on the table with a pop and Harry decided to inspect it to make sure it was perfect, which it was. The sun was setting and the candles burst into flickers of flames as they lit themselves.

"What's all this?" Draco asked walking into the garden and noticing the table laid out with food, candles, and flowers. Then he looked up at Harry and noticed Harry's dress robes.

"A romantic dinner for the love of my life," Harry answered, wrapping his arms around Draco. "Do you want to change first?"

"Yeah and I want you to change too," Draco answered as it clicked in his brain that there was only a week left until the wedding, so Harry must have some pre-wedding event planned. Add to that the fact that the dinner was typical Malfoy engagement ball fair, the room looked like his garden back home, and that Harry still hadn't proposed to him and Draco had a pretty good idea why Harry was wearing those stuffy dress robes. Draco didn't mind the thought behind the robes, figuring that Harry had probably wanted to dress up to impress him, but what Harry didn't know was that Draco much preferred Harry's previous engagement outfit.

"Me? But I'm already dressed. Is there something wrong with my dress robes?"

"Yes; they're far too stuffy and I have something else I'd much rather you wear if we're to have a fancy dinner together," Draco replied, pulling Harry with him towards the house.

"But I wanted us to be dressed up tonight."

"And I'd much rather we look hot tonight."

Neither of them spoke again until they were inside the entrance hall of Malfoy Manor and Draco required the room to provide him with two pairs of low cut jeans. He took the larger pair for himself and handed the smaller pair to Harry, saying, "Here, put these on."

"Don't I at least get a shirt?" Harry asked, wondering how Draco would react if Harry asked Draco to marry him in jeans, again.

"You're the one who set the dress code of jeans and no shirt the first time we had a romantic evening together," Draco drawled with a smirk, but required the room to provide him with a pair of white sneakers. "But if you want, you can wear shoes."

Harry took the shoes and pleaded, "Please may I have a shirt? I have a really nice evening planned under the stars and I need a shirt."

"Fine," Draco acquiesced. He required two white dress shirts and gave one to Harry. "You can change out here and I'll change in the bathroom," Draco replied, before walking through the doorway. He had a surreal feeling as he walked through the exact replica of his drawing room. He knew the real one was empty now, because he had packed it himself, but this one was just the way the drawing room had always been before.

Harry quickly changed and waited in the entrance hall for Draco. Draco came back a few minutes later dressed in a similar outfit. The jeans were slung so low on Draco's hips that they rested entirely below Draco's growing baby bulge. Draco's stomach, below the crisp white shirt, poked out above the waistband of the jeans.

Harry smiled at Draco, taking in how well those jean hugged Draco's body, and Draco smiled back at Harry. They held hands and returned to the rose garden.

When they reached the table, Harry held out Draco's chair for him so that Draco could sit down, and then Harry took the other seat. Harry was grateful to Dobby for casting a warming charm on the food, which was still steaming hot, so he decided he would have to get the elf a gift to thank him for all of his help; maybe a pair of mismatched socks.

Draco started eating and remembered the last time he had been to a proposal ball. They hadn't served exactly the same food, but all purebloods had a very similar menu for their proposal balls. Maybe it was a coincidence or maybe the elf had arranged this food and Harry didn't know what it symbolized. Harry certainly hadn't mentioned anything about proposing again.

Harry ate a few bites of the delicious food and placed his hand out on the table, reaching towards Draco. Draco took it, just like they had done during their first meals together, his hand tingling with the magic that flowed between them. They ate silently, neither wanting to ruin the mood nor knowing what to say. Draco kept thinking that this was eerily similar to a proposal dinner and wondering if Harry knew and Harry kept wondering if Draco knew what was up, but didn't want to spoil it by asking. Thus they ate in silence.

After dessert was over, Harry required a bouquet of blue flowers, like the ones Dobby had shown him, and held them out to Draco.

"So you do know," Draco said, taking the flowers.

Harry turned bright red with nerves, now that he knew Draco knew what this was. Before he could've backed out and claimed he had never meant to propose tonight, but now there was no going back. Harry's mind was racing with all of the details he had to remember. There were still the two most difficult parts left; the dance and the speech. The snogging at the end and possible wanking he wasn't too worried about, but the speech and the dance he could easily fumble and ruin the whole night.

The music started and Harry stiffly held out his hand. "May I have this dance?" he asked.

"Yes," Draco replied, taking Harry's hand and letting Harry lead him over to a patch of grass in the middle of the garden.

Draco recognized the song now and knew which dance went with this beat, but he didn't know if Harry knew or who was going to lead. But then Harry placed his hands on Draco's waist, signifying both that Harry knew this dance and that Harry expected Draco to lead. Draco quickly placed one hand on Harry's shoulder and the other on Harry's waist and began to lead Harry around the grass in the steps of the dance. Harry wasn't perfect, but he knew the steps and didn't tread over Draco's feet, which was more than Draco was expecting from Harry.

Harry's nerves faded away as he let the ingrained dance steps take over. He was pleased with himself that he remembered all of them and was somewhat proficient at it. When the dance came to an end, he took Draco into a hug and began peppering Draco's face with kisses, because he was just so happy to have gotten through the dance without falling on his face.

As Draco let Harry kiss him, something occurred to him. "Is this why you've been dancing with Lovegood?" Draco asked.

"Yeah. I was so worried that I wouldn't have the dance down in time or that I would fall on my face," Harry replied.

"So you had those girls teach you a dance," Draco concluded with a smile. He was somewhat impressed with the amount of effort Harry had gone to for him, especially when he considered Harry's dancing abilities tonight versus Harry's dancing abilities back in fourth year.

"Yeah. Did you like it?" Harry asked, nervous once more.

"I loved it," Draco admitted and leaned in to initiate a real snog.

They snogged for fifteen minutes. Harry was about ready to push Draco down on the grass and hump Draco, when he remembered that he still had the speech to go. He reluctantly pulled back from the kiss, before asking, "Do you want to go into the gazebo and gaze at the stars?"

Draco nodded, unable to get words passed the lump in his throat as he realized that the actual proposal was next.

Harry took Draco's hand and led him up the steps of the gazebo. He leaned against one wall and took Draco into his arms. Draco initially was facing Harry, but Harry turned him around so that they were both facing the same direction.

Harry motioned up to the sky and asked, "So what am I seeing?"

Draco recognized the sky as the same sky he saw at home and he remembered many nights spent stargazing with his parents. He knew the constellations all by heart by the time he was ten, so he had no problem identifying them now. He swallowed the lump in his throat and set aside his anticipation. "There's the plough, over there, of course." Draco pointed to the brightest constellation.

The plough was probably the one constellation Harry would be able to point out on his own. He was familiar with them from his five years in astronomy class, but he was never that good at astronomy and all of the stars looked different at this angle, because they were obviously quite a bit farther south than Hogwarts. Thus he was happy to let Draco point the constellations out to him.

Draco went on to point out Sagittarius, Lyra the Harp, Aquila the Eagle, and Cygnus the Swan. "My Grandfather Cygnus used to come out here with me sometimes when I was young and point out his constellation, then he'd show me mine: Draco the Dragon. I hope to do the same with our boys someday and point out Scorpius the Scorpion," Draco said, pointing to constellations as he spoke.

"And what about our other son? Have you thought of a second name?" Harry asked, hoping Draco would choose Sirius after his godfather.

"I know you wanted Sirius, but I talked to mother about it, and she assured me that her cousin was an awful person and not the sort I want to go naming an innocent child after," Draco said, knowing that Harry would protest, but still having to say it.

"No, Sirius was innocent. He wasn't a Death Eater and it was Peter Pettigrew who killed all those muggles and turned my family over to Voldemort."

"Mother wasn't referring to that. She said Cousin Sirius was stuck up and spoiled rotten. He got his way or he'd throw such a fit until my Great Aunt Walburga had no choice but to give in or get rid of him; and let me tell you, Great Aunt Walburga wasn't the type to give in easily; if you don't believe me, go talk to her portrait. She'll tell you the same as she told me: Sirius was a loud mouthed, uncouth, prankster, and a trouble-maker. She said he did horribly in school, ruined the family name, got his little brother Regulus murdered, and almost got himself expelled a dozen times. His biggest accomplishment was breaking out of Azkaban. That's not the sort of person I want to name my son after," Draco said, not because he wanted Harry to think ill of Sirius, but to show that he'd put a lot of thought into deciding against this name.

"Sirius was the only person who ever offered to take me in. He loved me. He was the only parental figure I've ever had," Harry said sadly, trying to convey how much Sirius had meant to him.

"And that's wonderful. I'm really happy you had him in your life, but still, I wouldn't want one of my children to turn out even remotely like him. You'll have to find some other way of honoring him; build him a statue or something."

"Alright. What were you thinking then for our other son?"

"I haven't decided exactly, but I was thinking of naming him either after me or after my Grandfather Abraxas."

"What was your grandfather like?" Harry hoped that Abraxas was nothing like Lucius, because he wouldn't be able to tolerate his son being named after someone like Lucius.

"Grandfather Abraxas was a good man; he wasn't a Death Eater and he never killed anyone. He was friends with Professor Slughorn and he founded the Abraxas Malfoy trust to provide money for orphans to attend Hogwarts. There was a fund that did the same thing before him, but it ran out of money and my Grandfather wanted to see it continued, so he gave a very sizeable amount. I don't know who all received money from that fund, but I know Professor Snape and his mother were helped by Grandfather Abraxas' other charity that helps battered witches and their children."

"Snape's mum was abused?"

"Yes. Father told me that Grandfather Abraxas was really upset to learn that such an intellectually gifted little boy was being so abused by a muggle. Grandfather Abraxas made it his mission to get Professor Snape and his mother away from Mr. Snape. After that he decided to set up the charity to help anyone else who was in a similar situation. That's why we have the charity cottage on the edge of our property limits. Battered women stay there until they get back on their feet; Professor Snape told me that he and his mother stayed there for a few years until he joined the Death Eaters."

"Your grandfather sounds like a wonderful man," Harry admitted.

"Yeah, he was. And it's pureblood tradition to make the middle name the father's first name, so I was thinking Abraxas Draco Malfoy."

"Yeah, my middle name is my dad's first name. So does that mean our other son would be Scorpius Harry Malfoy?"

"No," Draco said.

"Oh…" Harry replied disheartened.

"I haven't thought of a second middle name, but I'll try to think of something to honor you. This summer I'm gonna pull out my pureblood genealogy encyclopedia and look through the Potter section for appropriate family names."

"That'd be great," Harry said, placing a kiss to the side of Draco's neck.

Harry held Draco in silence, watching the stars, while he built up the nerve to give his little speech. Draco turned around to gaze into Harry's eyes and Harry could feel the suspense building up in the air. But in the heat of the moment he suddenly forgot some of the words to his speech. Finally he decided that he couldn't wait anymore and he just had to do it already. "Draco Malfoy, I love you with my whole heart. You mean everything to me and I love everything about you, from your beautiful face, to your gorgeous grey eyes, to your strong mind, and your fierce heart. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and build a family with you. Will you marry me?" Harry asked. He ended up winging bits of it, but at least it didn't sound too bad.

"Yes," Draco answered and pressed his lips to Harry's, initiating a quick snog.

Harry broke the snog when he remembered what he was supposed to do next. He quickly fished the ring with the Potter family crest out of his pocket and presented it to Draco. Draco held out his finger and let Harry put it on next to the other ring Harry had given him.

"I love you," Harry said, joining his lips to Draco's once more and pushing his tongue inside Draco's mouth.

Draco darted his tongue out to meet Harry's, tentatively touching the tip of his tongue to Harry's tongue. He moved his lips against Harry's lips and opened his mouth further, but then he pulled back slightly and whispered his next words against Harry's lips. "I love you too."

Harry wasn't sure if he'd heard Draco right at first, because the words were sort of mumbled. "You mean it?" he asked.

"Yeah," Draco replied and waited expectantly.

Harry eagerly reclaimed Draco's mouth and began furiously stripping Draco's clothes off of him, suddenly wanting to take his boyfriend right here, right now, in the Malfoy family gazebo.

While Harry was fumbling with the button on Draco's jeans, Draco reached over and undid the button on Harry's jeans. Harry kicked off his shoes and then bent down slowly, trailing his lips down Draco's chest, as he unfastened the buttons of the shirt, and then over Draco's jean-clad legs until he reached Draco's sneakers. Harry quickly pulled Draco's shoes off and then pulled down Draco's jeans. He rose up slightly and placed kisses up Draco's thigh and over Draco's boxers.

*Censored

* * *

Author's Note: What do you think of the name change? I didn't want to change Harry's name, but I couldn't see Draco just letting Harry keep his old name without an argument. And if they argued, I couldn't see them ever agreeing. Then I thought that Draco might trick Harry into it and solve all of their problems. But the question is whether Harry will go along with the name change after the war, or will he back out and decide to stick with Potter?

Please Review!


	61. Chapter 61

Author's Note: This chapter has been censored. To read the full version, go to AO3; you can find the link on my profile page.

Several people were upset about the twins' names last chapter. The names are not set in stone and Harry will end up picking one of the names; Harry just hasn't thought of the perfect name yet.

* * *

Draco woke up in the wee hours of Sunday morning with morning sickness; it was getting worse lately, but when it was over, he went back to bed with Harry. After breakfast, Hermione came over to the room of requirement to congratulate the boys on their engagement. They talked for a while, played with Cereus, and then went down to the Great Hall for lunch separately. They could have stayed and called Dobby for lunch, but Draco needed to get something and he had been missing enough lately that he needed to show his face with the Slytherins for a bit, before disappearing again.

After lunch Draco and Harry met back up in the room of requirement. They shared an intense snog and when they broke apart, Draco reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring with the Malfoy family crest. "I didn't know you were going to propose last night, so I didn't have it on me. I love you Harry Potter and I would be honored if you would marry me. Would you accept my ring now?" Draco asked, holding it out.

Harry was more excited about this than he thought he would be. "Merlin yes!" he exclaimed and threw himself onto Draco, hugging Draco tightly.

"Can't breathe," Draco said, causing Harry to pull away. Draco reached down, took Harry's left hand in his hand and slid the band onto Harry's ring finger. "Now you know you have to take this off when you leave this room and never let anyone see it, right?"

"Yeah, I know, but in here I get to be yours," Harry answered with a giant dopey smile on his face.

"Yes, as of next week we'll be married and you'll be my husband," Draco answered.

There was more snogging after that and then the boys went into the sitting room and practiced occlumency for an hour. Draco broke down Harry's shield right away and proceeded to examine every little detail of Harry's life during the past week or so. Hence Draco found out that Ginny had picked the song and the dance, Luna had performed some silly séance to keep imaginary creatures away, Dobby had picked and cooked the food, Hermione had practically written the entire speech for Harry, and the room had provided Harry with everything else.

Draco broke contact with Harry's mind and asked indignantly, "Was there any part of our engagement you _were_ responsible for?"

"Oh, um I brought the ring and my dress robes, but you didn't let me wear the dress robes. I worked really hard to learn that dance and I coordinated it all."

"They tell all these stories about you and yet what you really do is coordinate greatness. I think you'd make a better manager than an Auror," Draco teased.

"I never said I did any of that stuff on my own. I've always said that people helped me at every step along the way, but no one ever listens."

"Relax, I was just teasing you. And in my family, we consider the manager or the coordinator to be a more noble position than a common worker, so it was also a compliment."

"Seriously? That was a compliment?"

"Yes, it's part of our family's code of conduct to never do anything yourself that you can get someone else to do for you."

"Oh, okay," Harry said. He wasn't sure how to respond to that, because he didn't want to insult Draco's family, but that was a messed up way of looking at the world. Instead, he decided to change the subject. "But, um, how did you break through my occlumency shields so quickly?"

"Well while you were dancing around with a bunch of girls all week, I went to visit Professor Snape a few times and got some legilimency help. We really need to get cracking on building up your occlumency shields, because at this point Hermione and Weasley have left you in the dust and it's you I'll have to obliviate."

"I'm pants at occlumency, I can't help it. I try and I try, but I just can't clear my mind."

"I know, but now you have three very good reasons to learn. Professor Snape gave me some suggestions for you and we can work on them now," Draco said, before taking Harry through some meditation exercises. Then they worked on building a shield out of nothing until an hour was up.

After that they went to the bedroom for a nice wank and Draco fisted Harry for the first time.

*Censored

When they finished, Draco was tired and wanted to sleep, but he was hungry and he knew if he went to sleep without eating, he would be waking up to nausea. Thus he forced his eyes open and asked, "Can you get me some pumpkin juice?"

"Yeah, sure thing. Dobby!" Harry called and then requested pumpkin juice for Draco.

The elf was back seconds later with pumpkin juice and a cup of yogurt, saying, "Draco Malfoy, sir, needs to eat something, sir."

Harry thanked Dobby and put the snack on the bedside table. Then he encouraged Draco to sit up and drink the juice, before handing Draco the yogurt. Draco finished both and then lay back down, closing his eyes.

Harry held Draco for a while, before crawling out of bed. He was pleasantly surprised to find that his arse wasn't swore, which was probably thanks to Draco adding the soothing potion.

Harry walked around the room of requirement, gathering up his things and putting them in his backpack for his impending trip back to Gryffindor tower. As he worked, he thought of Ron and wondered how his best friend would take his engagement. Then he wondered if Ron was even suspecting this was coming. He had gone to the girls for help with the proposal, but he had avoided mentioning it to Ron altogether. Sure they hadn't had much time to talk privately, but if he really wanted to talk to Ron about it, he could've pulled Ron into the room of requirement during a free period. He hadn't, because he was dreading how his friend would react.

The room of requirement aided Harry's organizational efforts, by providing him with everything he needed to pack. He was done in record time and left with just his thoughts. He thought about inviting Ron over now so that they could talk. He was worried about how Ron would react to the news, but he felt he had to tell Ron soon, because he was marrying Draco next weekend. Plus, he was really happy and wanted to share this with his friend. But Draco was asleep in the bedroom and Harry didn't want to see what'd happen if Ron showed up when Draco was asleep.

Harry sighed and went to the storage shed to retrieve Draco's broom. The room wasn't tall enough to provide much flying excitement, but just zooming through the salty air was relaxing and allowed him to clear his head. He thought about Ron and how Ron would react, but really he couldn't predict if Ron would take it well or not. In the end he concluded that he would just have to tell his friend, hope for the best, and wait and see how it turned out.

Then Harry moved on to thoughts of his impending wedding. According to Narcissa's latest letter, they will leave the castle grounds next Saturday for Grimmauld Place. From there, they will floo over to the wedding location. Afterwards they would floo back to Grimmauld Place and Narcissa would leave, giving them the house _alone_ to consummate their vows. Of course that meant sex and Harry was anxious for the big moment when he'd have Draco's humongous cock inside him for the first time. He was excited and eager to find out what that was like, but he was also worried that it might hurt or just be too big. Then he thought about the fact that Draco's cock was bigger than Draco's hand and what Draco's hand had felt like.

Harry almost lost control of the broom at that thought. It veered sharply left and he had to use two hands to get the broom back under control. After that Harry pushed his anxiety over sex away and thought instead about the babies. Maybe next Sunday morning, when they wake up from buggering all through the night, he and Draco could have a look around Grimmauld Place and determine which room they wanted for their bedroom and which room would be the nursery.

Harry wondered next if Ron and Hermione would want to stay with them in Grimmauld Place during the Horcrux hunt. They would want to help and it would put the Weasley family in more danger if Harry was in constant communication with them, like he'd need to be if Ron and Hermione were flooing back and forth every day. It would make sense for Ron and Hermione to stay in Grimmauld Place with them, but then Harry pictured the fights that would cause with Draco and Narcissa and their dislike of Ron. That would complicate the upcoming horcrux hunt.

Harry started thinking about Voldemort and the horcruxes. Harry spent a long time up in the air on Draco's broom thinking about Voldemort and those horcruxes. He and Dumbledore would have to find and destroy all of the horcruxes and then kill Voldemort, so that his new family would be safe.

Draco woke up alone in bed and checked the time to find that there was only half an hour left until dinner. Harry wasn't in the room with him and Draco checked the hut and couldn't find Harry. But Harry's backpack was still here, so he figured that Harry was out taking a walk in the forest or a swim in the ocean or something. He decided against going to look for Harry and instead went into the loo and drew himself a nice warm bath.

When Draco finished his bath, he got dressed and gathered his things, taking his ring with the Potter crest off and tucking it into his school bag so that no one would see it, like he had done with it during lunch. He'd have to hide it somewhere safe when he got back to his dorm, but for now it was better off in his bag.

Draco went outside and called, "Harry! Where are you?"

Harry heard Draco calling and quickly landed the broom on the dining patio in front of Draco.

"Hey, did you have a nice nap?" Harry asked, dismounting from the broom.

"Yeah, but it's time for dinner. I need to get going."

"Oh, already?" Harry asked, stepping up to Draco and wrapping his arms around his boyfriend.

"Yeah. I took my ring off for safe keeping and you should do the same; just make sure you're wearing it next Saturday when we leave," Draco replied, before leaning in to give Harry a quick kiss.

Harry deepened the kiss, turning it into a quick snog, before pulling back and saying, "Yeah, alright."

There was one last kiss and then Draco left for the Great Hall.

When the door closed, Harry looked down at the ring on his finger. It felt like he had just barely put it on and it'd be wrong to take it off so soon. He spun the ring around his finger a few times and examined the crest, noticing the serpentine like creature that looked like a cross between a dragon and a snake and the large letter M. Then he remembered what Draco had said about taking Draco's last name, which was followed by a minor break down in which he couldn't fathom being called Harry Malfoy and considered whether or not it would be grounds for divorce if he switched back to Potter. At the very least, he'd have to talk to Draco about hyphenating their last names.

Harry wondered how he got to the point where he was even wearing Draco Malfoy's ring and thinking about taking Draco's name and getting married! Harry wasn't even seventeen yet and he was about to commit himself to his boyfriend for the rest of his life! He had enough on his plate with Voldemort and horcruxes to worry about; he didn't need a husband and two babies to worry about too! What would happen if Voldemort found out? Draco and the babies would probably be killed because of him. Surely it would be better if he ran away to protect them. Then Voldemort might not find out about Draco and the babies and they would be safe without him.

This train of thought led to a major break down in which Harry seriously considered not marrying Draco next week. He could run away, so that Draco and their sons would be better off without him. They would lead a happy, normal life, and Harry would go off on his own to kill Voldemort. It would be better that way, because then Hermione and Ron wouldn't get hurt either. Maybe Dumbledore would go with him and help him find the horcruxes, but it would be just the two of them risking their lives and everyone else he loved would be safe.

Harry imagined that Draco, Narcissa, and the two babies would live in Grimmauld Place by themselves, safely tucked away until after Voldemort's defeat. Molly and Hermione would still be able to visit them and maybe even Narcissa's sister Andromeda. Ron surely wouldn't be allowed over, but that was probably for the best, because otherwise Draco and Ron might rip each other's heads off. Of course Harry would have to side with Draco, because his children would need their father with his head intact, especially if Harry wasn't around. Harry hoped Ron would survive too and that would be more likely if Ron stayed away from Draco.

If Harry was giving Grimmauld Place to Draco to live, then he would need somewhere else to stay during the horcrux hunt. He wondered if he could stay with Dumbledore…then he wondered where Dumbledore lived and if it would be safely hidden from Voldemort. Next Harry wondered if Dumbledore had a secret keeper and who that keeper might be. He hoped it was someone like Professor McGonagall and not Professor Snape. That would be awful if Harry had to deal with Snape when he was trying to find horcruxes and hide from Draco.

One of the coins in Harry's pocket was burning, but he ignored it, thinking that it must be a message from Draco. He didn't want to talk to Draco at the moment, because he needed to get his plan straight and decide how much of it to tell Draco. Draco was stubborn and tended to get his way, so Harry figured there would be a big fight if he told Draco what he was planning. It would be better if Harry just took off and left a note.

The coin in Harry's pocket burned again and again Harry ignored it, lost in his thoughts. Eventually he was ripped out of his thoughts by the knocking on the door. At first he thought it was Draco, but Draco would've let himself in, so he knew it couldn't be Draco. He opened the door, prepared to tell whoever it was to go away and leave him alone.

Hermione pushed her way in as soon as the door was opened and said, "Harry, where _have_ you been? You weren't at dinner, but Draco was already back. And I tried to communicate with you through our coins, but you didn't reply. Ron and I have been worried sick about you. Have you been in here alone all this time? Can Ron come in? He's waiting out in the hall."

"Yeah, Ron can come in and yeah, I've been in here alone all this time," Harry answered and went into the sitting room.

Hermione ushered Ron inside and then the two of them followed Harry into the sitting room. Once they were all seated, Hermione asked again, "Harry, why didn't you come down to dinner?"

"I was thinking," Harry replied.

"About what?" Hermione asked.

"About next week," Harry admitted.

"Does Ron know what's happening next week?" Hermione asked. She didn't think Ron knew and she wasn't sure how to handle this conversation, if Harry didn't want Ron to know.

"No," Harry replied with a sigh. "But I guess it's time I told him." Harry held out his ring to show Ron.

"Is that…um…a…um…what I think it is?" Ron asked.

"That depends on whether or not you think it's an engagement ring with the Malfoy crest," Harry answered. Ron nodded and gulped. "Yeah, then I'd say it is."

"Blimey Harry…" Ron trailed off, but after a minute he added, "When?"

Harry didn't answer and instead looked down at his hands in his lap. He could still see Umbridge's words on the back of his hand.

After a while, Hermione answered for Harry, "It's meant to be next week. Draco's mum planned the whole thing, hasn't she? Or has something changed Harry?"

"Bloody Merlin's pants," Ron replied, but Harry kept quiet and continued to stare at his hands in his lap.

"Harry, what's going on?" Hermione asked.

"Listen, I've been thinking; Draco and the babies will be a lot better off if we don't get married and I stay away from him," Harry revealed.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed. "He's _pregnant_; you can't abandon him now! His dad is in jail and all his family are Death Eaters; if you leave him he'll have no one to turn to!"

"He's got his mum and I was gonna leave him Grimmauld Place! I'll go back to him once Voldemort is dead," Harry countered.

"Harry, how can you be so _stupid_? Draco's not going to be better off without you. Without you, he'll be so desperate that he'll turn to his dad for help; you said his dad will be out soon. And what do you think Lucius Malfoy is going to do when he finds out his only son is pregnant by the Boy-Who-Lived? He'll march Draco down to St. Mungo's and get him an abortion, that's what," Hermione argued.

Harry noticed that Ron was deliberately avoiding eye contact with Hermione and thought he might have an ally. "Ron, what do you think?" Harry asked.

"Um, I think that maybe Harry's right," Ron replied with a shrug. He didn't really care what happened to Draco, but he was all for any plan that involved Harry leaving Draco.

"Ronald! How could you?" Hermione exclaimed.

"Let the man talk, Hermione," Harry said.

"Fine," Hermione said, turning to Ron. "Go on, Ronald, why do you think Draco would be better off if Harry abandoned him?"

"Well…it's just that…um…Well Malfoy isn't helpless, is he? He can take care of two kids and he won't be alone, will he? He's got his mum…and…um…my mum too probably…and…well then there's Tonks' mum; she's his aunt and is bound to help him, isn't she? And well if Harry leaves Malfoy the house and the money, then what else is there?" Ron asked.

Harry nodded his agreement.

"You two are completely and utterly _stupid_! Urg! Boys are just so unbelievable sometimes it makes me want to scream. You know what? I hope he dumps you for this and never speaks to you again. I certainly would if I were in his shoes. I hope no one ever dates either of you again," Hermione said exasperated.

"Um…why?" Ron asked with trepidation. He didn't like the sound of Hermione's voice and he was already thinking about switching sides, just to be on Hermione's good side.

"Why? Why Ronald? Because you two would seriously leave a man carrying your children to fend for himself during a war, then you two don't deserve a second chance. How can you think that all that matters is the house and the money? That is so stupid. Do you have any idea how hard pregnancy is? How being under too much stress can cause someone to lose a pregnancy? Especially one that is already high risk, like Draco's. Sure, you'll march right off to war Harry and leave Draco to fend for himself. When you get back, Draco will have had a miscarriage, never speak to you again, and you'll never be able to forgive yourself for ruining your lives. You know what Harry? You're not going to do it. You're not going to leave him. I won't let you," Hermione insisted.

"Bloody pants! That can't really happen, can it? I mean Draco losing the babies just because of me," Harry said. He had no idea that stress could endanger a pregnancy.

"Yes, it happens all of the time. And Draco is already under enough pressure with switching sides and his dad being a Death Eater. Add to that his near miscarriage last month and the fact that Peverell men aren't designed to carry more than one baby, and yes Harry, I think there is a _very_ good chance of it happening."

"Merlin's pants!" Harry exclaimed. "Well if that's the case I guess I'll just have to work harder on learning occlumency.

"Seriously Harry? Occlumency? That's what you're having cold feet about?" Hermione asked. She couldn't believe Harry would try to leave Draco and their children, because of occlumency.

"Yeah, I suck at it," Harry admitted.

"But you've been getting better," Ron said.

"Not lately. Snape gave Draco some more legilimency lessons and he tore right through my shield," Harry replied.

"Harry, Ron and I'll help you with occlumency," Hermione promised.

"Yeah mate, Snape says I'm a natural. It's a gift, having an empty head is, I guess," Ron said.

"Really? You think that'd help?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Really," Hermione agreed.

"Yeah. But do you want to get something to eat first? You must be starved," Ron asked. He was hungry and was hoping to use Harry's missed meal as a way to get a snack.

"No, I'm not hungry," Harry replied.

Ron was bummed out by that, but Hermione moved them right along to discussing methods for clearing the mind. They spent a couple of hours on it that night and Ron and Hermione promised to help Harry practice occlumency as much as possible from now on. Harry certainly didn't make any breakthroughs with occlumency that night, but perhaps in another month or so he would. The one breakthrough he did make was that when it came time to leave, he actually took his engagement ring off, tucked it safely away, and left the room of requirement.

* * *

Author's Note: There's the pre-wedding breakdown out of the way. How do you think Draco will react when he finds out?

Please Review!


	62. Chapter 62

Author's Note: No censorship was needed in this chapter. I would like to thank Belldandy55555 for reviewing the last chapter!

* * *

Draco never did have much time for Harry on Mondays and this Monday was no different. They had just enough mutually awake time together for a good toss off and some anal stretching; having Draco's hand inside Harry went a bit easier, but Draco didn't attempt anything new and just barely moved that hand at all. It left Harry plenty of time to do his homework in the afternoon, but no time at all for occlumency practice with Draco. Hermione too didn't have time to help Harry with occlumency, because she had her own occlumency lesson with Snape to go to. Ron, however, had all of the time in the world for Harry.

Monday evening was spent practicing relaxation and meditation techniques with Ron. And for whatever reason that involved sneaking down to the kitchens for some butterbeer and then playing a few rounds of exploding snap with Seamus, Dean, and Neville. That turned into a bit of a rowdy party in their dorm room when Seamus pulled out half a bottle of brandy. It was around that time Neville excused himself to go do something less stupid. The next day the lot of them wished they'd gone with Neville, when they all woke up nauseous with pounding headaches.

Harry didn't think he'd make it to class or even down to the Great Hall for breakfast, what with his head curled over the toilet, his stomach turning, and heaving as it was. He wasn't sure what he should do and Dean, Seamus, and Ron were all in the same boat, just in various stages of it, so they were no help. Ron was throwing up in the next stall. Seamus had already gotten up, puked, and went back to bed. And Dean had yet to stir, but Harry had no doubt that when Dean did wake, Dean'd be puking like the rest of them.

Harry wanted to eat something to help with his upset stomach, so he called Dobby. That was probably the best thing he could've done. Dobby's high pitched voice was killer on his eardrums with the way his head was pounding, but Dobby more than made up for that by giving Harry a hangover potion. Harry drank it and felt almost instantly better and then asked for a vial for Ron too. And within half an hour after that, they were dressed and scarfing down food in the Great Hall. They weren't even late for defense class.

Hermione gave Ron and Harry a look with a furrowed brow and pursed lips all through herbology. Neville had told her what the boys had gotten up to; needless to say she didn't approve. She even chastised the boys a bit every time she got the chance, but she wasn't their mother and other than telling on them or using her prefect status to deduct points, there was little she could do. That just left her with her dirty looks and cold shoulders for her two best friends in the world.

Harry survived the day and was eager for his time with Draco in the room of requirement after herbology. He rushed straight there, taking the stairs two at a time and running down the corridors, dodging a group of fourth years on the way. The door was already there and waiting for him, as it usually was on Tuesdays, when Draco got out of classes first. Harry went inside and found Draco in the study working on that term paper again. Draco was doing a lot of that lately and Harry was disappointed at the thought that he would have to wait while Draco finished.

Draco had gotten a lot of help from Professor Binns last night and as such this section of his term paper had practically written itself. He'd been in here working on it since lunch and it only took him twenty more minutes after Harry arrived. When he dotted the last i and crossed the last t, he put down his quill, jumped up from his desk, and started stretching his arms.

Harry passed the time studying his charms book. He noticed the minute Draco moved and he was all too eager to cast away his textbook. Draco was stretching, so Harry went right to Draco shoulders and started massaging the tension away.

"What do you say you let me give you a massage?" Harry whispered into Draco's ear, before nipping it gently with his teeth.

"Mmmhm," Draco moaned. "Yes, but later. We need to get some occlumency practice in first."

Harry groaned, but let Draco lead him into the sitting room for occlumency practice anyway. Draco grabbed a bunch of grapes from the icebox on his way and plopped down on the sofa next to Harry.

"So, have you been practicing clearing your mind?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, last night with Ron," Harry replied, leaving out how that had turned out.

"Good. Are you ready?" Draco asked.

Harry was, so Draco entered Harry's mind, which was empty at first, but Draco was able to quickly break through the thin sheet of Harry's shield and pull up Harry's recent memories. First he went into Harry's alleged occlumency practice with Weasley last night and discovered that it was nothing more than four adolescent boys imbibing spirits until they were so pissed they couldn't help but to have empty minds. It upset Draco that Harry had been drinking on a school night, when Draco wasn't allowed so much as a butterbeer on a Hogsmeade weekend. But what really bothered Draco was that Harry had wasted his chance to practice occlumency in favor of getting pissed and goofing off.

Draco broke the contact and said, "You know, while you were pissing the night away with your friends, I was getting private tutoring from Professor Binns. You could've made a similar effort and obtained a suitable tutor to help you fill your time with _actual_ occlumency practice. Then _maybe_, just maybe, I wouldn't've been able to rip right through that film you call a shield."

"Sorry. I meant to practice emptying my mind with Ron, honest, but he said that was the sort of stuff he does to empty his mind. I'll get Hermione to tutor me next time or go it alone, I promise," Harry said, hoping to placate Draco. He felt like shite for taking the night off when there was work to do.

"See to it you do. Oh and by the way, I just remembered that I wanted to tell you something about after the war."

"Yeah?"

"Well if they offer you an Order of Merlin, 1st Class, which they will, take it. If you don't, I'll be _very_ upset with you. And if you can swing it, get me one too. Tell them I played some invaluable role in his Lordship's defeat or something, which I did if you think about it."

"Um…what exactly have you done?"

"Well I haven't hexed you in ages for one; it'd be pretty difficult to defeat Him if you're in St. Mungo's recovering. Second, I won't be handing myself or my children over to Him to use as bait to lure you into a trap, which is really what father taught me I ought to do. And third, instead of actually _doing_ the assignment He gave me, I turned it over to Professor Snape and his Oldness. And finally, I've not told my father about you at all. Surely lying to my father on _Harry Potter's_ behalf is an invaluable service to the war effort. So I think you really have no chance of winning without me, which means I deserve one."

"Um, okay, I'll try."

"See that you do. When they approach you about receiving yours, don't forget to mention I need mine."

"I don't really want one." The last thing Harry wanted was more notoriety.

"Well I do and I'd like a seat on the Wizengamot if you can swing it. And while you'll at it, I wouldn't mind being a representative at the International Confederation of Wizards."

"Um, sure. Where did all this come from?"

"While you were drunk, I was conferring with Professor Binns about my possible career plans. All of those titles will help me obtain my political goals."

"Of being Minister for Magic?"

"Oh no, never that. It's much better to be pulling the puppet strings of the minister than actually _be_ the minister. And I have no plans on being Supreme Mugwump or Chief Warlock either. I _do_ want I life of my own and free time to spend with my children and maybe my husband, if he's not too inebriated, that is."

"Oh." Harry wasn't quite sure what to say about that. He'd never really thought about Draco's future career or how that might affect him and it probably wasn't the best idea to mention that to Draco.

"Are you ready for another round?" Draco asked, popping grapes into his mouth.

"Give me a minute."

It took Harry about five minutes of meditating and clearing his mind, before he was ready to have another go of it with Draco. This time the nothingness shielding his mind was just a bit thicker and took Draco a few minutes to break through. Draco did eventually break through and Harry knew that Draco was perusing his memories of his breakdown Sunday night in which he considered abandoning Draco and not showing up to their wedding. Harry wanted to stop it, because he didn't want Draco to know about this. He frantically tried to clear his mind and push Draco out, but then Draco pulled up Harry's conversation with Hermione and how Harry had come to realize that leaving Draco was a bad idea. Harry was a lot less concerned about this part, because it meant Draco was seeing that he changed his mind and decided to stay and marry Draco as planned.

After Draco had his fill of shifting through Harry's memories of wanting to abandon him and the babies for their own safety, he broke the contact and said, "Hermione was right you know. I need to be married before I give birth or the babies will be illegitimate. I'm a Malfoy, so I'll always find a way to come out on top. Preferably I'd marry you, but if you run out I'll find someone else. I think Pansy would be agreeable, but it would mean putting all my faith in Pansy that she wouldn't betray us; what if she was taken captive and gave us up to save herself? Do you want to risk that?"

"No," Harry said, not wanting to believe it was possible.

"Yes, and even after the war she'd be my wife and the mother of my children…"

"No! They're my children and I want to claim them. I won't split, I promise. Hermione already explained everything to me and I understand now that you need me. I'm gonna be there for you, I swear."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually agree with Weasley on half of it. After the wedding, if you want to split to keep us safe, then I'll be fine. I've got my mother, my grandmother, Professor Snape, and Aunt Andy. We'll be safe in hiding and I'd be okay with you leaving, as long as you come back as soon as you finish being the hero and saving the world."

"Really?" Harry asked in disbelief. "You won't have a miscarriage because of the stress?"

"Really. I'm a big boy and I don't need you with me all the time during the war. I've already been planning on you being gone for long stretches at a time when you complete one mission or another. And we've come up with a backup plan in case your house gets compromised. Actually I think it's best if I disappear and you don't know where I am; that way if you're captured and your mind is invaded, you won't know enough to get me captured too. The babies and I'd still be safe."

"But where would you go? Your house isn't safe."

"My house isn't, but the property where my grandmother is staying is under the fidelius charm; Professor Snape helped mother set it up."

"I thought your grandmum was staying at Grimmauld Place with your mum."

"She supports the Death Eaters Harry! She may not turn on mother or me, but we wouldn't want her overhearing any Order of the Phoenix business. What if she decided to give my aunt Bella another go?"  
Alright, but where is she?"  
"I'm not the secret keeper, so I can't say, but it's a family property. We set it up so that we'd have a place to go to if Grimmauld Place was ever compromised, but if you want us to go into hiding without you, we can go there."

"Yeah, alright. When the war turns bad and I have to set out to complete my mission, I want you and the babies to be safe. Are you sure you'll be alright? I don't want to stress you out like Hermione said."

"Like I said, as long as you come back to us when it's over, we'll be fine. Just know that when I disappear, that's where I've gone and why. I'll be moving slower with the babies, so when shite hits the fan, I'll need to go and not wait around to say farewell to you."

"I wouldn't want you to; I'd much rather come home and find you gone into hiding than worry that someone got to you while I was out. But how will I know you're safe and that someone isn't after you?"

"Keep your coin on you and I'll keep mine on me."

"Alright, yeah, I will. And if I'm captured, I don't want you coming after me and playing the hero or anything; I want you and the babies safe. You don't mind sitting out on all of the action, do you?"

"No, not really, especially if you get me an Order of Merlin."

"Yeah, okay. And if they don't want to listen to me and give you one?"

"If you've killed the Dark Lord, they'll listen to you and if they don't, I'll send your story about being wronged to the Prophet. Give them an exclusive picture of you and public opinion will be all over your husband needing to have an Order of Merlin."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, trust me."

"Yeah, alright."

After that Draco went over shield building techniques with Harry and the occlumency practice continued. By the end of it, Harry was just a little bit better at keeping Draco out for just a little bit longer.

Then Draco finally let Harry give him that back rub, which of course turned sexual when Harry couldn't stop himself from kissing all over Draco's body while he rubbed, kneaded, and massaged. Harry took Draco's school robes off when he started the massage and after twenty minutes his hands dipped lower, pushing Draco's pants down.

* * *

Author's Note: Draco's top priority has always been his safety and the safety of his unborn children. I think Draco, Narcissa, and Snape had already been thinking on similar lines about the possible need to split up to maintain the safety of the babies while Harry is working on taking down Voldemort. The only difference was that Draco wasn't planning on disappearing without talking to Harry first. And it will be important that Draco has somewhere other than Grimmauld Place to go, because we all know that it is compromised during the war.


	63. Chapter 63

Author's Note: This chapter has been censored. To read the full version, go to AO3; you can find the link on my profile page.

* * *

At breakfast Wednesday morning Professor Dumbledore stopped Harry on his way out of the Great Hall. "Harry, meet me in my office after dinner. The password is skittles."

"Yes, sir. Excellent, sir," Harry replied with a smile, excited at the prospect of finally moving forward with Professor Dumbledore and the horcruxes.

Harry was also thankful that he had spent last night practicing occlumency and doing his defense homework for tomorrow. That just left his herbology homework, but he could do that today during free period. At least that was what Harry thought he would be doing with his free period until Hermione steered him towards the room of requirement after defense.

"What's going on Hermione? I need to do tomorrow's herbology homework," Harry protested, but went with Hermione anyway. It must be serious if Hermione was stopping him from doing homework.

"An occlumency intervention; I know how you've been spending your study time with Ron and I can only guess how you've been spending it with, you know..." Hermione didn't want to say Draco's name in the seventh floor corridor, in case someone was eavesdropping. "So I've decided we are going to use my one free period this week to concentrate on clearing your mind."

They arrived at the tapestry with the ballerina trolls and Hermione walked in a circle three times, summoning the room she wanted. The door appeared and Harry followed Hermione inside to find a library. Of course the room of requirement would turn into a library for Hermione. Hermione led Harry over to a large table stacked high with piles of books, all on occlumency.

"What is this Hermione?" Harry asked.

"I've been looking up occlumency in here for weeks now, whenever I get a spare moment, I come in here and look. Now there are many techniques that can be employed in occlumency, but it all comes down to clearing your mind and building a wall out of nothing to shield your memories. Last night I came across this book that promises results for even the most recalcitrant to occlumency. We're going to go through the steps in this book one at a time until your mind is thoroughly and completely empty."

Harry realized that there was no point in arguing with Hermione and he didn't even want to argue with her on this; he was quickly becoming intrigued with the book she was indicating and instantly hopeful that she had found him a solution. Thus he readily agreed and the two of them got to work going through the steps in the book. The book made it sound so easy and simple. He wanted to think that it was that easy and that his ability to become a sufficient occlumens was right there, within his reach. By the end of their free period Harry even thought he had made some progress, although it would take Draco testing his shield to determine how much progress he had made, if any.

Harry didn't want to go to lunch in the Great Hall when he felt like he was on the cusp of a breakthrough with occlumency, which he knew to be of utmost importance in protecting Draco and their babies' lives. But Hermione was hungry and his stomach grumbled, so he reluctantly agreed to put the rest of this endeavor aside until Friday evening, which was the next time Hermione was available to work on the problem.

Lunch passed quickly as did herbology and then Harry was rushing off to the room of requirement to meet Draco. Draco was already there and working on the usual history of magic term paper. Harry knew he should be doing his herbology assignment, given his meeting with Professor Dumbledore after dinner, but he just couldn't get his near breakthrough with occlumency off of his mind. Thus he sat down at his desk next to Draco and pulled out Hermione's occlumency book, reading ahead to what the next steps would be.

Harry finished the next section of the book and still couldn't get it out of his head, so he decided to try it without Hermione here to help him. He zoned out right there, not two feet away from Draco and cleared his mind, building up a shield of nothingness, brick by non-existent brick. By the time Draco was done and moving around, Harry was hiding his mind behind a layer of nothingness so thick that he wondered if his shield might, for once, be strong enough to hold.

Draco got up and retrieved a snack from the icebox. He ate it alone in the sitting room, before going back into the study to check on Harry. It was unusual that Harry had not followed him out of the study and Draco thought that Harry must be deep at work concentrating on some assignment. But when he went back into the study, Harry was staring off into the lilac forest through the window.

"Harry? Harry, what are you doing? Harry?" Draco asked, but got no answer.

Then Draco waved a hand in front of Harry's face. This time Harry flinched and said one word, "Occlumency."

Figuring that Harry was working on building an occlumency shield, Draco got out his wand and cast his legilimency spell, attempting to drill his consciousness into Harry's mind to find out what his fiancé was up to. But Draco couldn't get in; instead he was rebuffed by a hard, smooth, cold surface that completely blocked every entry into Harry's brain. He tried again and the result was the same, because for once, Harry seemed to be hidden behind an impenetrable shield. But still, he wanted to test Harry's limits, so he continued to attempt to break in another dozen times.

Finally, half an hour later, Draco gave up and said, "Well I guess you've done it! I can't get in!"

Harry was trying to concentrate on his shield and not let himself get distracted by Draco's words, but then he processed those words and he couldn't help the smile that crept onto his face. His shield broke as his excitement bubbled to the surface. And then he was standing up, kicking his chair aside, engulfing Draco in his arms, and smothering his fiancé with kisses. Suddenly he was hard and wanting right then and there.

The boys made their way to the bedroom where Harry wanked and sucked and Draco worked his hand into Harry's tight canal.

*Censored

Draco fell asleep in Harry's arms and Harry lay there holding Draco before he remembered his herbology homework. Harry grudgingly, yet carefully, climbed out of bed, threw on his clothes, and went into the study to do his homework. He was almost finished when he realized it was dinner time. He looked down at his last question and with a groan he realized it was an essay question that he couldn't possibly finish up and make it down to dinner on time. He waffled back and forth about what to do, but there was nothing for it but to make time to do it later, so he tucked his homework away and went into the bedroom to wake Draco.

For once Draco was already awake and adjusting his robes when Harry entered the room. They were late, so they shared a few short kisses and Draco went into the study to gather up his things. Then they walked to the door and shared another kiss, before heading their separate ways down to dinner.

Harry didn't recall what he ate. He shoveled it in until his plate was empty, while thinking about his meeting with Professor Dumbledore. The headmaster had promised him that he could help on the next horcrux hunt; did this mean Dumbledore had found one? Were they that much closer to destroying another horrible piece of Voldemort's soul? First there was the journal and then the ring and now they might be destroying the third piece of Voldemort's soul! It was only minutes away now.

And then Harry glanced over to the head table and saw Professor Dumbledore standing up to leave. Harry jumped up too and quickly made his excuses to Ron and Hermione, before grabbing his backpack and running out the door, beating Dumbledore to the headmaster's office. He gave the password to the gargoyle and went up the spiraling staircase. He was too anxious to sit, so he stood in front of Dumbledore's odd assortment of knickknacks and watched one that looked like a long metal rod with a bird's head on the end, perpetually dip it's head down and then lift back up.

Professor Dumbledore was old, but he was still swift on his feet, so Harry was only waiting there a minute before the headmaster ascended the spiraling staircase and said, "Ah Harry my boy! We have quite the little adventure for us."

"Have you found a horcrux then?" Harry asked anxiously.

"Yes, but we'll not be going after it today. I hear your nuptials are scheduled for Saturday evening, so I think it would be best to wait until after they are complete. We can put the horcrux off until Sunday."

"Oh," Harry said. His thoughts were racing a mile a minute through his head; horcruxes and weddings and not wanting to put either off for another moment.

"Don't worry, I'm not ready to go today myself. We still have preparations to make my boy; we mustn't rush these things."

"Preparations? Is that what we'll be doing tonight?" Harry asked eagerly.

"Yes, in a way. I would like to see how well you duel, Harry."

"Duel Professor? You've seen me duel loads of times."

"Yes, but I've never seen you duel _me_. Humor an old man, if you will, but I should very much like to say that I have dueled the Great Harry Potter and lived to tell."

"Alright," Harry conceded.

"Very good," Dumbledore replied, pulling out his wand. "Well, give it a go."

Harry was a little confused, because he didn't feel right battling an old man. Dumbledore was pretty much the last person he had ever imagined dueling. He pulled his wand out and stood there, trying to decide what to do.

"Come on Harry, you can do better than that; a disarming spell, if you will?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry complied and disarmed the headmaster and then tossed back Dumbledore's wand. It felt weird, but the night carried on like that, with Dumbledore asking Harry to demonstrate certain dueling spells and then praising Harry for a job well done. After an hour or so, the headmaster dismissed him, sending Harry on his way. Something didn't sit right about the meeting with Harry, but this was Dumbledore and he trusted Dumbledore to know what he was doing and Harry still had the herbology essay to write. Thus he went back to Gryffindor tower and joined Ron and Hermione, who were both writing their own essays.

* * *

Author's Note: With Draco going into hiding, the whole Harry being the master of the elder wand because Harry bested Draco on Easter thing can't happen, hence the need for the change. The wedding is just around the corner now…I think one more chapter first.


	64. Chapter 64

Author's Note: No censorship was needed in this chapter. I would like to thank Sandy and ChaosLady for reviewing the last chapter!

* * *

Thursday after lunch had Draco alone in the room of requirement once again. First he went through the room and gather up all of his possession he had left behind over the year. He didn't take anything that came from the room, but there were a number of items he did take, such as his swim trunks, a set of school robes, his magical furniture mending book, a letter from his father, and so on; he even took the unopened sex basket from the closet. It wasn't a lot of things, but he gathered them up, shrunk them down, and stuffed them into his school bag before he started on his term paper.

Draco had planned on getting this term paper done before the wedding, but the wedding was only two days away and he still had three sections left to write. He only had half of one section written by the time Harry came in, so he made Harry wait for him while he finished. Then they went into the sitting room and Harry massaged Draco's back while he ate a snack.

While Harry was rubbing Draco's shoulders, he said, "Yesterday Professor Dumbledore told me he has something planned for after the wedding; the next mission in the war."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. He says I can go with him this time; I can help."

"Great."

"Really? It'll be Sunday evening; you're not upset that I'll be away the Sunday after we marry?"

"No, why should I be? You're gonna be keeping us safe." Professor Snape had already informed Draco and his mother of Dumbledore's upcoming plans, so he wasn't surprised.

"Great," Harry replied as he continued the massage, happy that his fiancé understood.

Then there was a quick occlumency practice in which Draco once again failed to break into Harry's mind, followed by a mutual toss off and stretching Harry's arse.

Sleep came easily to Draco these days, so he had no problem taking a short nap after getting his rocks off. The only problem was there wasn't much time left before dinner and then Harry was waking him up and telling him it was time to go. Draco got dressed and went down to the Great Hall. Afterwards Draco got Blaise and Pansy to help him with the transfigurations essay that was due tomorrow. And when he found himself with an extra hour before bed, he went back up to the room of requirement and spent it on his term paper as well.

Draco spent his free period Friday working on that term paper. He was in the zone and he really wanted to get it done tonight, so instead of meeting with Harry in the afternoon, he postponed their meeting until after dinner.

Harry had been planning on practicing occlumency with Hermione after dinner, but he just moved that to before dinner, to accommodate Draco. Both Harry and Hermione were pleased with Harry's progress with occlumency, but there was only so much occlumency practice a person could put in at one time, so after a couple of hours, they decided to call it quits and move onto their homework for Monday. Ron joined them and the three of them started their potions essays.

Draco couldn't keep working on his term paper, because exhaustion set in. He took a break for a quick nap and then called Dobby to bring him a sandwich for dinner. He ate with one hand, while he worked on the term paper with the other. It was taking forever to finish that infernal paper, but finally, just before eight, he finished it! The entire twenty parchment scroll long essay was complete!

Draco felt elated that he had finally accomplished the completion of a term paper and rushed it straight off to Professor Binn's classroom, not even bothering to cast a grooming charm on his hair. The ghost of Professor Binns was sitting in his armchair by the fire, but Draco was able to rouse the ghost enough to accept the completed assignment.

Professor Binns pointed to his desk and said, "Leave your term paper there."

Draco did as instructed.

"Congratulations my boy!" Professor Binns said and clapped Draco on the shoulder, leaving a creepy cold feeling on Draco's shoulder.

Draco shook off the chills and said, "Thank you Professor."

Professor Binns then ghosted back over to his armchair and returned to his night of sitting by the fire. Draco, having a schedule to keep, stopped by his dorm room to get his copy of Pure-Blood Directory, the modern addition, before rushing up to the room of requirement and signaling Harry with his coin. While he waited for Harry, he pulled out his book, so that he could look for a decent Potter name. Draco hadn't realized how closely he was related to Harry through the Black line, but that was the first thing he noticed now; Harry's paternal grandmother was a Black and Draco's mother was a Black, which made them fourth cousins. The genetic distance was great enough that they shouldn't have a problem with inbreeding, but just barely.

Some of the female names were reasonable, but Draco was only interested in the male Potters. Along Harry's paternal line, there was James, then Charlus, preceded by Adron, who had two brothers, Aaric and Ackerley. Before that there was Merritt and his brothers Mordred and Pauloc, who were preceded by Nechtan, and before him, Paxton. Draco was just about to declare this page of Potter ancestors useless, when he noticed the full name of Harry's father; James Pyxis Potter. Pyxis was the compass constellation and meant that the bearer of this name would never get lost. Harry's paternal grandmother, Dorea, must have picked it, being born a Black herself.

* * *

Harry was beginning to think Draco wouldn't have time for him today, but when he felt the coin in his pocket burn, his heart rate spiked with anticipation. Harry ditched Ron and the guys and ran straight to the room of requirement. He found Draco in the sitting room reading a very thick book.

"Are you still working on history of magic? I thought you had signaled me because you were done with that," Harry said.

"I am done. I already handed it in to Binns," Draco said with a wide smile. "I pulled out the wizarding genealogy book to look for names."

"Great! Did you find any good names?" Harry asked, sitting down next to Draco and returning the smile.

"Yes, I like your father's middle name."

"You know, I've no idea what my father's middle name was."

"Pyxis, the compass constellation. Your grandmother was a Black."

"Draco, no offense, but I do _not_ want my child named Pyxis, even if it was my father's middle name."

Draco was disappointed by this, but he had only been considering the name for a minute, so he wasn't too attached. "Oh…I'll have to keep looking then. Any chance you like Charlus or Pauloc?" He wasn't particularly fond of these names, but he didn't think they were as bad as the other Potter names.

"No; do I really have ancestors with those names?"

"Yes, your paternal grandfather and your great, great, great uncle."

"You went that far back and that's the best you could come up with?"

"Your ancestors had terrible taste in names."

"That's for sure; my mum must've named me. Why can't we just name our other son Abraxas Harry? Scorpius Draco and Abraxas Harry; I like that."

"Harry, I thought we already talked about this."

"No we didn't. I suggested it and you shot it down."

Draco huffed in exasperation at his husband. "Harry, if you don't understand what I'm saying you need to tell me. I'm not a mind reader and if you don't tell me that you don't get it, I don't know. You don't understand why we can't use your name for our son and you didn't even bother to ask me to explain."

"Why don't you just tell me?"

"Harry, think about it. If Voldemort wins the war, you're dead, and I'm trying to pass off a little black haired boy named _Harry_ to the wizarding world as not your kid…even if I get Pansy to swear it's her kid and fake paternity results, just giving a child your name is alone enough to announce my disallegiance to the Dark Lord. He doesn't take kindly to that."

"You've really planned out what to do in the event of my death in that much detail?" Sure they had talked about it and Harry did want Draco and the babies to survive in his absence if it came to that, but he didn't want it to come to that at all.

"I'm a Malfoy; we always plan for every eventuality so that we land on our feet no matter what happens. Optimally you won't die and you'll defeat the Dark Lord, but if that doesn't happen, I've been trying to formulate a plan of action, yes."

"Alright, so if I'm dead, you can't give either of them my name, okay, I got that part. But what if I don't die and I win? What if I kill Voldemort and we're free to name our children whatever we want? If the war ends in my favor, why can't he have my name?"

"Harry, what do you think is going to happen if you win? Do you think you'll go back to being a normal person?"

"Yes, I'll go back to my normal life, only with you and our sons added."

"I hate to break this to you, but if you kill the Dark Lord, you will be a hero and a celebrity. _Everyone_ and their mothers are going to want to name their children after you. I bet you that half of the children in the wizarding world will be named after you in the coming generation. It'll be all Harry, Harold, Hareleah, Harel, Harri with an I, Harrietta, Harriett, Harrene, Harimanne, Harimilla-"

"Alright, I get the point," Harry interrupted.

"Do you? Because I could keep going; Haris, Harith, Harrison…"

"Yes, I do. You don't want to name one of our sons Harry because everyone else is going to be naming their kid after me."

"The Weasleys alone will have a dozen little Harrys."

"Right…and that will get confusing if we make our son's first name Harry, but if his first name is Abraxas and it's only his middle name-"

Draco interrupted, "I'd rather not. What if our son doesn't like his first name or Abraxas falls out of popularity? The next dark wizard might take the name Abraxas and then our son would be left with an unusable middle name to fall back on."

"What are the odds of that happening?"

"It happens all the time that someone doesn't like their first name and wants to go by their middle."

"But we don't even know if people will end up wanting to name their kids after me. If I defeat Voldemort in an uncool way, there might not even be a swarm of little Harrys."

"We'll see. And if you really want one of the kids to have your name for their middle name, then let's wait until it's been a few years and see how bad it is. We could always make our daughter's middle name Harri with an I."

"I guess that's reasonable. Maybe we can dig out our old astronomy books and look through the names of stars for our son," Harry suggested.

"We can try that next. I only looked through the most recent list of Potters; there are additional sections for the more ancient Potters that I can still look through. And we have plenty of time to decide; we can't submit the birth certificates until after the war."

"Yeah, alright; we'll come up with something perfect later," Harry agreed. "Let's put this book away."

Draco agreed and the two teens were soon wanking each other off. It was late and when they were done, they fell asleep together.

When Draco woke up in the morning, he realized he still had a lot of things to do before the wedding. Harry looked so peaceful in his sleep and it was early, so Draco wrote Harry a note and went down to the dungeons to prepare. He ran into Milli and Tracey, who both wanted to know where he'd been. He had a giant smile on his face when he told them about completing and turning in his term paper. He told them that he had been up working on it all night and left out that he had really been sleeping with Harry. Then he quickly excused himself and went to his dorm room.

Draco quickly had his toiletries out and his clothes for the day ready. His mother had his and Harry's new dress robes, so he just needed clothes for meeting Harry and flooing over to Grimmauld Place, but still, he wanted to look nice on his wedding day. Thus he chose his nicest slacks and a matching set of wizard robes. Then he packed up all of his possessions, including his trunk and school books. He shrunk everything down and fit it all neatly into his backpack, before going to the nearest prefect's bathroom and taking a very long and relaxing bath.

After Draco's bath, he spent a great deal of time on grooming charms and making himself look just right. Then he recast his glamour charm on his growing abdomen and went back to his dorm to grab his backpack. Finally he went out to the common room and found the other Slytherin sixth year students.

"Well, I think this is it for me. I've finished my term paper and now I shall be going into hiding," Draco said.

There were several gasps of surprise, but Pansy already knew, so she just winked at Draco. There were many requests asking for him to explain himself, so he said, "I'm still not fit to serve in this war. I have chosen to go into hiding until my wounds have healed and I can take my rightful place by His side. I wish you all the best in surviving and I hope to be able to join you on the battlefield." The last part was a lie, because no Malfoy would be caught dead on the battlefield in an actual war, but his friends didn't need to know that.

"But why now? You've been doing alright for the last month," Greg protested.

"Something is going to happen this weekend; it's my secret project for Him. You lot are fast and will be able to run if the need arises. I'll definitely need to run and I won't be able to go fast enough to escape. Thus I'm going now and what I've put into motion will come to fruition before class Monday morning. Keep your heads down, stick to the common room, and for the love of Merlin, keep the younger ones out of the Astronomy tower," Draco warned.

Vince, Tracey, and Blaise all had more questions, but Draco raised his hand to signal them to stop, shook his head, and left. His friends would be fine, they would keep the other Slytherins out of trouble when the time came, and he had a wedding to get to.

* * *

Harry woke up alone and smiled as he read Draco's note. He was anxious all morning, but the wedding wasn't until the evening, and knowing he had plans with Professor Dumbledore for Sunday, he spent the morning with Ron and Hermione doing their homework for the following week. Then he spent an inordinate amount of time getting ready and charming his hair into place. He changed into a pair of his new trousers, a muggle t-shirt, and his newest Weasley jumper, before making the short journey over to the room of requirement.

The waves were gently rolling in as Harry sat on the beach waiting for Draco. Then Draco was there and Harry jumped up from the sand to engulf his fiancé in a hug. There was a bit of snogging, but neither of them wanted to be late for their wedding, so they cut it short. They used the fireplace in the bedroom to floo over to Grimmauld Place, where Narcissa was waiting for them.

Narcissa had everything ready for the boys. She started with a simple lunch for the three of them, courtesy of Kreacher. The elf had for once remembered that Draco only drank pumpkin juice, but only because Narcissa had just finished making a special batch for Draco and lecturing Kreacher about it. When lunch was finished, she went over the plans for the ceremony and had the boys go through a short rehearsal in the drawing room, with Kreacher grumbling in the background about how happy his mistress would be that the House of Black was being restored to its former glory.

Harry's first surprise came when he was supposed to be repeating back his vows to Narcissa, as practice for the actual ceremony. "What? Why would I vow that?" he asked in shock.

"These are the standard Malfoy wedding vows Harry; didn't you read that section of the proposal contract?" Narcissa asked confused.

"Mother, forgive Harry; he apparently didn't read any of it," Draco said to Narcissa, before turning to Harry. "You can change it, Harry, if you want to, but you better come up with something new fast."

"But why would the standard Malfoy wedding vow make me promise to love you even if you do awful things, like get sentenced to life in Azkaban for using unforgivable or dark magic? And lying and double crossing? Why would anyone agree to stay married to someone even if their husband does those things? Did your mum really make this vow when she married your dad?" Harry asked Draco. Yes, he had told Mr. Binns that the standard vows were fine without reading them, but he had erroneously assumed they was the same as the standard muggle vows.

"Mother?" Draco asked.

"Yes, I did, as did Lucius' mother before me. Harry, what you have to understand is that there is a culture of dishonesty, deceit, and dark magic in the Malfoy family. By taking this vow, I agreed to love Lucius in all of his flaws, just as Lucius vowed to love me, even with all of mine," Narcissa said.

"Yeah, but I'm not gonna do any of that stuff, so I don't need Draco to love me despite anything," Harry protested.

"Ah no, Harry, I changed my vow to more accurately reflect your flaws. You're allowed to change yours to reflect mine too, but you didn't say anything about it, so that's why Mother went with the standard vows for you," Draco said.

"Draco, why don't you let Harry hear your vow first," Narcissa suggested.

"Yeah, I'd like to hear just what you believe my flaws are," Harry added.

"Alright. I, Draco Malfoy, vow to love Harry Potter, in sickness and in health, to have and to hold, with a pathological desire to do good, an insane savior complex, a reckless desire to take in dangerous strays, a potentially lethal career, an unhealthy level of extreme modesty, a nonexistent fashion sense, and a general affinity towards recklessness, danger, lethal situations, charity, and poor hygiene or no, for as long as we both shall live. I think I covered all of your flaws…if not, the last is vague enough to catch any I missed," Draco said with a smirk.

Harry's jaw dropped down to his chest as he took in what Draco was claiming to be his flaws.

"Harry, can you enlighten us as to what you think of Draco's vows?" Narcissa asked.

Harry spluttered for a moment, before latching onto his first complaint. "I don't have poor hygiene."

"I was referring mostly to your hair, because you sometimes go out without combing it. But I was also trying to make it vague, in case you come home filthy from the war," Draco replied.

"Right, and well half of those aren't even flaws; charity, saving people, and being an Auror?" Harry pointed out indignantly.

"According to Malfoy standards they are. Malfoy custom dictates that if my mother went out and did them, my father would have grounds for a divorce. I'm just trying to cover all of your known flaws, so that when my father gets out, he can't complain that my husband is in violation of something."

"Right, so I just need to list all of your annoying flaws and vow to love you in spite of them?" Harry asked, wishing he had Hermione or Ron to help him; Ron would be great at listing all of Draco's flaws.

"Yes, but I really don't think you should leave out the standard bit about him being spoiled and pompous," Narcissa said.

"Right, just the bit about dark magic, unforgivables, and Azkaban," Harry replied.

"Oh, and Lucius would never agree to the marriage if you leave out bribing and or manipulating public officials; the Malfoys consider that their duty," Narcissa added.

"Draco, you're not seriously gonna turn into Lucius, are you? Because if you do, I reserve the right to get a divorce," Harry said. Draco was fine, but Lucius was another matter entirely. Come to think of it, having Lucius for a dad was probably one of Draco's biggest flaws.

"No; I have no plans on being my father. But every Malfoy marriage going back a thousand years has had the public officials bit in the vows, haven't they Mother?" Draco asked.

"Yes, if not longer. The records are a bit dodgy before the Malfoys came to England, but the custom of bribing public officials definitely started prior to that," Narcissa replied.

"Right, so I have to put that part in so Lucius doesn't freak, but Draco, you're not actually planning on doing that, right?" Harry asked.

"I have no plans of doing anything illegal at the moment, but if I find myself or any member of our family in a life or death situation that depends on doing so, I would," Draco replied. Which was true, as long as the Malfoy galleons were also counted as part of the family. And there was legal precedent for doing so, going back to Nicolas Malfoy.

"Good, then I guess I'll just vow to accept Draco with that and with being a spoiled, pompous, arse who's obviously obsessed with his hair and has Lucius for a dad," Harry said.

"I think you're leaving out a large number of my son's flaws, Harry," Narcissa said.

"Thanks Mother," Draco said.

"Just trying to be helpful dear," Narcissa replied.

"Just add in some more generic flaws and let's move on; we're running short on time," Draco said, looking at his pocket watch.

"Right, well there's snarky, inconsiderate, opinionated, snobbish, and pureblooded; that should just about cover it all," Harry said.

"Pureblooded isn't a flaw, Harry," Narcissa said.

"It is to him; let him say it," Draco replied, with a wave of his hand. "Just write all that down and make sure it makes sense, so we can move on."

Narcissa agreed and she and Harry spent another five minutes writing out and revising the new vow. Then it was time to practice the exchanging of rings and Narcissa pulled out two small black boxes. One she had taken from the Malfoy vaults and contained Abraxas Malfoy's wedding ring and the other had been given to her by Harry's attorney and came from Harry's vault; this one was James Potter's wedding ring. She handed the Malfoy ring to Harry to slip onto Draco's finger and the Potter ring to Draco to slip onto Harry's finger. Both rings were platinum, so at least the metals matched, even if the styles did not; the Potter ring featured the words eternal love engrave into the band and didn't contain a single stone, while the Malfoy ring contained one rather large square diamond surround by blue zircon and almost looked feminine, except for the thickness of the band.

Draco looked down at the three rings on his ring finger. He had the ring with the Potter crest, of course, and now his grandfather's ring, which he was rather fond of, but he also had the first ring Harry had given to him; the one that looked like a plainer version of a wedding ring. The three rings on the one finger were just too much, but he already had his Malfoy signet ring on the ring finger of his other hand, so he couldn't just move one over.

Harry noticed Draco staring at his ring with a contemplative expression. "What's wrong? Do you not like that ring?" Harry asked nervously, because it was too late to get another ring.

"No, I like it, but there isn't room for all of these rings on one finger."

"Oh," Harry said. "But you won't be able to wear the ring with the Potter crest on it when we go back to school, so then all the rings will fit."

"Yeah, but I want them all to fit now. Maybe if I move the first ring you gave me and resize it…" Draco trailed off, experimenting with moving the ring in question to another finger.

Of course the ring didn't fit on any of Draco's other fingers, but he was just trying to decide which finger he should have it resized to fit. Finally he decided he wanted it on the index finger of his right hand. He may not have had any experience with resizing clothes before, but he had plenty of experience resizing jewelry; when he was a child he used to borrow his father's old wand and play dress-up in his father's box full of Malfoy family heirloom jewelry. Lucius never even got mad when he opened his jewelry chest to find that all of his jewelry was child sized and he certainly never mentioned the reasonable restriction on underage magic when they were within the Manor grounds.

Draco took his wand out, resized the ring, and slipped it onto his index finger. "There, now I have room for them all. But next time you wish to bestow gifts of jewelry upon me, do get me cufflinks, yeah?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, um, cufflinks, sure," Harry said.

"Harry, does your ring fit alright?" Narcissa asked.

"Yeah, mostly, but it's a bit loose," Harry admitted.

Narcissa gave Draco a look, so he reached out and took Harry's hand, before resizing Harry's wedding ring. Once the rings were sorted, Narcissa took them back and placed them into the black boxes from whence they came.

Then Narcissa had the boys change into their formal dress robes and Harry was given a pair of Malfoy cufflinks; they were platinum snakes, curved into the letter M and he could just imagine the look of awe on Uncle Vernon's face if Vernon ever saw him wearing something so extravagant.

Draco had to cancel the glamour on his stomach so that Narcissa could adjust his robes properly to fit his ever expanding waistline. She typically didn't have much use for tailoring charms and when she struggled with adjusting Draco's robes, Harry stepped in and adjusted them for her. And then the boys were ready and they looked smashing.

* * *

Author's Note: There; I've finally tied up all of the loose ends before the wedding. We're getting towards the end, so if I've left out any of the loose ends, please let me know. I've mentioned most of the wedding details already, so next chapter will get through the wedding rather quickly and then move on to the wedding night :) What did you all think of the vows?

Please Review!


	65. Chapter 65

Author's Note: This chapter has been censored. To read the full version, go to AO3; you can find the link on my profile page.

* * *

The three of them flooed over to the wizard chapel by the beach that Narcissa had rented. As requested, the place was utterly and completely deserted, except for Harry's lawyer, Mr. Binns, and the Malfoy attorney, Mr. Shafiq. Mr. Shafiq was licensed to perform marriages and Mr. Binns would be their witness, along with Narcissa. They went over the procedure for the wedding and for the first time Harry got to see the seaside chapel where he would pledge his life to Draco. It was beautiful, magical, and just perfect.

Then the lawyers pulled out the last of the paperwork to sign. There was a marriage license, a change of last name form, and a declaration of paternity for any children produced by the couple. Harry signed the marriage license and the declaration of paternity, but paused on the paper that would change his last name forever. He stared at the piece of parchment so long that Draco noticed.

"What's wrong Harry?" Draco asked, wrapping his arms around Harry. "Didn't we just have a talk about you having to tell me what's going on in that head of yours?"

"It's just that I'm not sure I'm ready to sign this one. I don't know if I want to give up my last name; I'm the last of the Potter line."

"Harry, my mother was the last of the Black line and she still took my father's name upon marriage. Sometimes names just die out."

"But it doesn't have to. I could hyphenate my last name."

"Harry," Draco said, waiting until Harry looked up at him and their eyes met. "Do you know why I want you to have my last name?"

"So that we'll all have the same last name, but we'd all have the same last name if we all hyphenated."

"My mother wouldn't have signed the marriage agreement if the babies and I wouldn't come out Malfoys; my father would never forgive her for that and I wouldn't want to break up their marriage."

Harry had assumed Draco wanting the babies to be Malfoys had something to do with Lucius, so that wasn't really a surprise to him. "Alright, then it'll be just me hyphenating my name."

"All of us having the same name isn't the only reason I want you to be a Malfoy. I love you Harry and I want to make you mine. My name is the most precious gift I can give you, as a symbol of how much you mean to me. Whenever anyone looks at your new name they will know that I love you and that you are my husband," Draco said.

Harry was touched by Draco's words and he suddenly found himself opening up to the idea of taking Draco's last name, but that just made him more confused.

"Now this paperwork won't be filed until after the war—however long that takes—so you have a lot of time to think about this," Draco continued. "I want you to think about it and try the name out. If you've honestly considered it and you still want to hyphenate, then that's fine. I'll tear up this form and we'll fill out a new one."

"You still want me to sign this one now, don't you?"

"I would like that, yes. I'm just trying to plan for every eventuality; if your side wins the war, but you are killed in the process, I'm going to need proof that you were mine and fathered my children. This document will be one more piece of proof on my side. Without it, I'll be able to prove that we were married and that you fathered my children, but I'll have no proof that there was an actual romantic relationship between us; that's what this document signifies. If you have my name, then everyone will know that our children came from our love and isn't just a necessity to legitimize an unplanned pregnancy. If you live, I won't need it, because I'll have you to back me up. But if you don't, then there are only a handful of people to back up my claims, all of whom are either at risk of dying in the upcoming war or would be suspected of lying for me. This form would add legitimacy to my claims, because you would only ever change your name if our marriage was real. And I'd like our children to think that we were a real family before you died, which will be easier if you have my last name. But if you don't want to sign it, then you don't have to; I'll just find some other way to prove you were mine."

"You really won't file this until after I get back from the war and we talk about it?" Harry asked, pulling away from Draco, towards the parchment.

"Yes, I promise. I couldn't even if I wanted to."

"Alright, I'll sign it, but only so you can have it to show our sons if I die." Harry had the quill again and dipped it into the ink.

"That's all I ask. I want you to be part of my family and to show you just how wonderful that family is, but if you don't want any of it, then I'd never force you."

Harry signed the document and set the quill down, before turning back to Draco.

"I know and I love you for it."

They shared a short kiss and then the five of them had tea, before the ceremony began.

Afterwards Harry barely remembered the vows he had repeated to Draco or the flower arrangements or the stars visible overhead; all he remembered was looking into Draco's eyes as he pledge himself to the man he loved and thick bands of magic encircled their hands, binding them together by their new wedding rings. And he remembered the smile on Draco's lips as Draco returned the pledge. And he definitely remembered the kiss; the kiss that was all hot wet tongues and firm lips. That kiss was broken apart by Narcissa after a few moments. Then they thanked their lawyers for their help, before they once again journeyed to Grimmauld Place by floo.

"Well boys, dinner is ready in the kitchen and I'll just leave you two alone. Harry, you are to return in time to meet Professor Dumbledore tomorrow evening. You'll need to change and prepare, so I suggest you leave here by three. I'll be back around three anyway to spend supper with Draco while you're away," Narcissa announced.

"Um, where are you going?" Harry wondered. Draco had told him that they had another safe house, but hadn't said where.

"To the other safe house, where my mother is, of course," Narcissa answered with a smile. "My overnight bag is already packed. If there are any complications, I recommend flooing back to Hogwarts and requesting assistance from Professors Snape and or Dumbledore."

"But _where_ is that?" Harry wondered.

"I can't tell you or I'd break the secret. I'll write the secret down for you next time," Narcissa lied. She wasn't the secret keeper, but it was for the best if Harry thought she was.

"Ah, okay," Harry agreed.

"See you tomorrow Mother," Draco said.

And then Narcissa was grabbing her rucksack and disappearing through the floo and Harry and Draco were left alone to enjoy their wedding night. Draco, who hadn't eaten in hours, was starving, so the first thing they did was eat the delicious meal Kreacher had prepared. Afterwards the boys retired to the bedroom that Narcissa had had made up for them for the night.

"Um, so is this the bedroom you want for us when school lets out?" Harry asked, nervously trying to make small talk and keep his mind off of what they both knew was about to happen.

"Yeah, I guess. I looked around a bit with Mother and she said this was the best room. It's the biggest, besides the master bedroom, and is right next to the loo," Draco answered, stripping his clothes off and crawling into bed.

"And the nursery?" Harry asked, taking his own clothes off and following Draco into bed. He wanted to get his usual potions, but then he realized he had left them in the room of requirement, so he cast his three preparatory spells and snuggled up to Draco.

"The room in between this room and Mother's room will have to be striped, the bunk beds taken down, and such," Draco said, letting Harry caress him and rub his back.

The backrub eventually turned into snogging and dry humping and after a while of that, Draco pulled back and said, "Get your potion applicator."

"Can't. I forgot to bring anything; they're all back in the room of requirement," Harry admitted, in between placing quick kisses on Draco's lips.

"No, I left some here; last time I came here to see Mother when we agreed on this room. Look in the nightstand," Draco said, pushing Harry up in order to encourage him to stop the kissing and go get the potions.

Harry scooted over and opened the drawer of the nightstand to find a number of prepared applicators filled with his potions and the card that listed the sex spells. He handed the applicator with the stretching potion over to Draco, set the other applicators on top of the nightstand and took the spell card. He had already cast his usual three preparatory spells, but now he wanted to read over the spell that was supposed to help ease huge cocks into small virgin holes. He didn't want to get it wrong, so he studied the card for a few minutes before casting it.

"Come here," Draco instructed, reaching out to Harry with an arm that was sporting eerily elongated fingers.

Harry wasted no time in complying with Draco's requested and promptly joined his husband on the bed, snogging Draco while he was at it. Draco returned the kiss and reached around behind Harry with the stretching potion and inserted it into Harry's bum. Harry pulled away from the kiss for a moment to catch his breath, looking down at the hollow of Draco's throat as it rose and fell quickly in time with Draco's breathing. Harry looked back up at Draco's deliciously flushed cheeks and plump pink lips as he pressed his lips once more against Draco's lips.

*Censored

They came down together, with Draco's arms wrapped around Harry's back. They held each other as they drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Author's Note: Please Review!


	66. Chapter 66

Author's Note: This chapter has been censored. To read the full version, go to AO3; you can find the link on my profile page.

* * *

Harry and Draco were up late having anal sex and fell asleep without cleaning up or using the conditioning or soothing potions. Draco woke up in the middle of the night with his stomach rolling from hunger. Harry had rolled half of the way off of Draco in the night, but his upper torso was still weighed down by Harry's body. Draco tried to shift Harry, but Harry was too heavy. Maybe Draco could've tried harder, but he was pregnant and he didn't want to risk it, so instead he decided to wake Harry up.

"Harry… Harry… Harry, wake up!" At first Draco whispered and pushed Harry, but by the third time he said Harry's name, he was shouting, because clearly whispering was not enough to wake Harry up.

"Huh?" Harry asked groggily.

"Get off me," Draco said, pushing Harry again.

"Oh sorry," Harry said before quickly sliding off of Draco. Their bodies were stuck together with dry cum that felt gross and pulled on his sparse chest hair as he broke the connection with Draco. "Ew." He summoned his wand and vanished the mess from his body, before turning to Draco. "Do you want me to do you too?"

"Yes please, this is rather disgusting," Draco replied. Harry vanished the cum from Draco's chest. "I'm going to get something to eat. You need to add the other potions."

"Yeah, alright." Harry watched as Draco threw on a robe, and left the room. Then Harry reached for the potion applicators and felt a sharp pain in his arse. "Argh," he groaned.

Harry added first the soothing potion and then the conditioning potion. By the time he lay back down, he already felt better and he was soon asleep.

Draco ate a snack and went back to sleep. He woke up again for breakfast, but Harry stayed in bed, so he ate alone. When Draco finished eating, he crawled back into bed with his husband. It was still early and after all of the lovemaking, he had no trouble closing his eyes and going back to sleep. It wasn't until lunch when the two lovebirds finally crawled out of bed.

After lunch, they went into the bathroom and squeezed into a tub that was much smaller than the one in the room of requirement. It was tight, but they were together and for just a few hours more, it was their honeymoon and they didn't need to worry about what was waiting for them back at Hogwarts. They took their time in the tub, exploring each other's bodies with their hands.

Before the bath was over, they were horny again. This was their honeymoon, so Draco asked, "Do you want to go again?"

"No, my arse hurts; I think it'd be best to give it a day. Wanna wank instead?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, okay," Draco agreed and reached down.

They wanked each other off in the tub.

*Censored

They cleaned up, got out of the tub, dried off, and went back to the bedroom to lie down. They were just lying in bed, enjoying the afterglow and Harry especially enjoying the effects of the soothing potion as it did its job, when they heard Narcissa calling out for them. Harry quickly threw on his pants and robes and Draco did the same. Then Harry kissed Draco on the forehead and twice on Draco's barely there belly and said, "Take care of yourself and my boys. I just have my thing with Professor Dumbledore and I'll be back at Hogwarts tonight. I'll meet you in the room of requirement at our usual time tomorrow, but if something happens to me, promise you'll keep my men safe, yeah?"

"Yeah, we'll be right here waiting for you to come back. We won't return to Hogwarts until after we have word that you've returned safely and all is well. Professor Snape promised to stop by and notify us as soon as you're back," Draco replied.

They heard Narcissa calling again, so Harry gave Draco one last quick kiss on the lips, before exiting the room and calling back, "We're up here! I'm just heading out now."

Narcissa was still in the drawing room, where she had flooed into the house, because she didn't want to risk interrupting the boys and overhearing something. When Harry walked into the drawing room, she engulfed him in a hug and said, "You take care of yourself Harry Malfoy. Our family needs you to survive this war. If it comes to letting someone sacrifice themselves so that you can live, let them, because your boys need you to come back to them."

"I will mam," Harry replied and hugged his mother-in-law back. He wasn't so sure if he could actually let someone sacrifice themself for him, but he did want to be there for his sons and his husband, so he would try.

Harry flooed back to Hogwarts, leaving Draco and Narcissa behind to enjoy a quiet and peaceful dinner at Grimmauld Place. When Harry was leaving the room of requirement, he ran into Professor Trelawney, who was trying to get inside to stash her sherry bottles. Apparently the room had been in use and sealed off since he and Draco had left and the divinations professor had empty alcohol bottles to hide. It was then that Professor Trelawney told Harry about Professor Snape's betrayal of his parents.

Harry was furious and although he wanted to run straight to Professor Dumbledore and confront him, he first wanted to make sure the castle would be safe without the headmaster. Thus he first stopped by Gryffindor tower to warn his friends. While there he remembered his half a bottle of Felix Felicis, which he gave to Ron and instructed to share with whoever Ron could get to help guard the castle. He also scrounged around until he found his old DA coin and summoned the members of his little club, hoping that a few people would still have their coins.

Harry left Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny with instructions to gather more students and guard the school, before he ran to the headmaster's office to confront Professor Dumbledore, completely ignoring the fact that it was almost dinner time. But no matter how angry he was, what happened in the past with Snape mattered little when it came to what was happening tonight with the horcrux hunt. In the end, Harry and Professor Dumbledore went off to the cave where they retrieved the fake locket.

When Harry and the professor returned to Hogsmeade, the headmaster was in bad shape and there was a Dark Mark hovering over the astronomy tower. After a quick chat with Madam Rosmerta and acquiring a pair of brooms, the two flew off to the Astronomy tower, where Professor Snape was waiting. Professor Dumbledore immobilized Harry with his last spell, right before Professor Snape killed Dumbledore.

With Professor Dumbledore's death, Harry was free to move again and he chased Professor Snape through the school. He was waylaid by Seamus, who came out of a corridor and asked him what was going on, because Seamus and the others had been guarding the hallways for hours and nothing had happened. But now something was happening and Seamus was in his way.

"Snape killed Dumbledore, get help," Harry shouted and then he was dodging passed Seamus and following after Snape.

Harry caught up to Snape on the school grounds, but the professor got in a few curses on him and slowed him down just enough that Snape was able to clear the front gates and disapparate away. Harry ran out to the gates and collapsed onto his knees from exhaustion, but then he remembered the horcrux, which Dumbledore had had on his person's when Dumbledore died. The locket would be on Dumbledore's body, wherever it had fallen off of the astronomy tower. Suddenly Harry was up and running again and this time back towards the castle.

Harry ran until he reached Dumbledore's body and retrieved the locket. He tucked it away and cried as he looked down at Dumbledore's crumpled body. He thought back to how Snape had murdered the headmaster and then his thoughts switched to Draco and Narcissa and his two unborn sons, all back at Grimmauld Place, where Snape had access.

Harry was up and running again, into the castle and back up the stairs to the seventh floor. Ginny and Michael Corner were out in the hallway and they both shouted at him and asked what was going on, but he didn't have time to stop. He kept going until he was in front of the correct tapestry and he summoned the lilac beach room without thinking about it; he was just thinking that he needed to get to Draco first.

Harry tore across the room of requirement to the fireplace in the bedroom and quickly flooed over to Grimmauld Place. He exited the fireplace in the drawing room and called out, "Draco! Narcissa! It's an emergency! Come quick!"

No one responded to Harry's call, so he began searching the house. It was well after Draco's usual bedtime, so the first place he looked was their bedroom, which was empty, except for a single piece of parchment on the bedcovers. He picked it up and read.

Dearest Harry,

By now you are aware that the war has begun and this safe house has been compromised. Mother and I are going into hiding for the duration of the war, just like you wanted us to do, which will work better if you don't know our location. Don't worry about us, because we're in a safe house out of the country, protected by the fidelius charm and I suggest you do the same, because if we're captured, I'd like to think you're still out there and capable of saving us. I just want you to know that we need you to end this war as soon as possible and that we would prefer you to be returned to us alive at the end of it. Go forth and be our hero, but do come back to us alive. I will contact you with our location when the Dark Lord is dead. This message will erase itself half an hour after you first touch it. Do keep it, because in the end, when this is all over, it will reveal our true location.

-I love you,

Yours truly, your husband.

That was all the note said, no matter how many times Harry read it. He read it over and over again until the half an hour was up and the note turned into just a blank, ordinary scrap of parchment. Seeing the ink disappear into the page reminded him of Tom Riddle's diary, so he went into the drawing room, found a quill and a pot of ink, and wrote down, "Where are you?" The words disappeared almost as soon as he had written them, but no response ever came. He repeated the message, but when the results were the same, he had to admit that this parchment did not work the same way the journal had worked. But then the journal was a horcrux and Draco's parchment most certainly was not. Most likely messages could only be sent one way or only the one other message could be sent, but either way, Draco had not gotten Harry's message.

Harry gave up and tucked the parchment into his pocket and flooed back to the room of requirement. He exited the room for the seventh floor corridor, where Ron, Hermione, Professor McGonagall, Tonks, Kingsley, and several other Aurors who Harry didn't recognize were. Harry was taken to the headmaster's office and debriefed regarding the events of the night. Professor Dumbledore was dead and Professor Snape had done it. No one else was injured. No Death Eaters, other than Snape, were ever in the castle. Professor Snape had cast the Dark Mark to lure Professor Dumbledore to him just before Harry and the headmaster had returned from the cave.

Harry didn't tell any of them about the cave or the horcrux or even that Draco was missing. Sooner or later someone would notice that the dungeons were one Slytherin short and then the speculation would begin; Harry didn't know how much Draco had known or even when, so he decided it was best to keep quiet on the subject. He had to trust Draco that Draco and Narcissa had gone to someplace safe where Snape and Voldemort wouldn't be able to get to them. He imagined his little family safe behind a fidelius charm that not even Snape knew the secret too; one Narcissa had set up.

Then it occurred to Harry that Tonks' mum was Narcissa's sister and Tonks was outside the office, standing guard in the hallway. But Harry was stuck in the headmaster's office and Professor McGonagall and the Aurors wanted answers. He repeated what he had seen again, leaving out all the same things that couldn't get out, and then asked to go. When the adults still wanted to talk to him, he started rubbing his temples and claimed he had a headache. Finally the adults decided to give the poor kid a break, because it was well past midnight and he had yet to sleep.

"Tonks, will you walk with me?" Harry asked as he exited the headmaster's office.

"Sure Harry, what can I help you with?" Tonks asked while following Harry down the corridor and up the stairs.

"I'd like to speak with your mum," Harry admitted, leading Tonks towards the room of requirement.

"Me mum? Why'd you wanna speak to her?"

Harry walked in a circle three times as he pictured a room with a sofa and a fireplace, connected to the floo network. The door appeared and he opened it, went inside, and Tonks followed him in. "Narcissa and Draco Malfoy have disappeared. Narcissa was staying at headquarters, but she's gone. I think your mum might know where they are," Harry finally answered.

"Narcissa hasn't been staying at headquarters; Dumbledore moved her _weeks_ ago," Tonks replied.

"Are you _sure?_" Harry asked, thinking about Draco's grandmother. Narcissa must have left Grimmauld to take care of her mother.

"Yeah. I heard she was holed up here in the castle somewhere, because her son was sick again and then she never came back. Dumbledore told the Order he had her moved."

"Well I'd still like to speak with your mum and ask her what she knows about this. Can you give me the floo address?"

"Sure, but it's late and I don't think she knows anything," Tonks replied.

Tonks took Harry to her mother's house. She dragged her parents, Andy and Ted, out of bed in their nightclothes and introduced them to Harry. Harry asked Andy if he could speak with her alone, so she took him into her sewing room, shut the door, and asked, "What's on your mind sweetie?"

"Your sister Narcissa, she and Draco are gone and I thought that you would at least know where they've gone," Harry replied.

"I haven't seen Cissy since she was over yesterday."

"Do you know where they might've gone?"

"Probably to her property on the continent that she was fixing up. It's under a fidelius and I don't know anything more about it than that."

"Do you think they're safe there then?" Harry asked hopefully.

"I would imagine so, dear. She said the place is stocked piled with supplies and only Draco and Severus know the secret. That's far fewer people than with Headquarters."

"Snape knows? Oh please tell me you're joking!"

"Joking dear? Why no, Severus has been quite helpful to Cissy and her son. She said she trusts him with her life."

"Shite! This is _not_ good."

"Language young man! Now just what is the problem? Weren't you supposed to marry my nephew last night?"

"I did. The problem is that Snape is a traitor! He killed Dumbledore and now he knows where my husband and his mum are and I don't! They're in danger and I can't get to them!"

"Oh dear, that would be a problem."

"Yes, it would be."

"Do you have any way of contacting them dear?"

"No…." Harry said, but then he remembered he did have a way and pulled out his coin charmed to relay messages to Draco. "Um, wait, I do have this."

Harry tapped the coin and made the words, "Snape killed Dumbledore!" appear on the coin. They waited with baited breath and then the words changed and the coin read, "I know."

Draco knew. It took Harry several minutes to process this thought and while he was trying to wrap his head around just what that meant, Andromeda urged, "Well dear, ask him if Severus knows the secret to his hideout."

Harry nodded, because that was a good point. He tapped the coin and made the words, "Does Snape know where you are?" appear on the coin. They waited and a few seconds later the coin changed to read, "No, we're completely safe." Then the message flashed again and read, "No one outside safehouse knows secret."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief as he considered the possibility that Draco and Narcissa really were safe somewhere on the continent where no one, not even Snape or himself, could find them. The coin changed again and this time it read, "I love you." Harry taped it and changed it to read, "I love you too."

Harry stood there staring at the coin in his hand for over a minute. He was in a bit of shock after Dumbledore's death and then finding out that Draco left him, but now he was starting to feel relieved that his husband and children were safe. This was, after all, just what he had wanted. Draco and Narcissa must've learned that Snape was a traitor and vacated Grimmauld Place, in favor of the more secure safe house. He didn't want to think about what could've happened with Snape had they stayed and he was immensely relieved that they had been alert to the danger and had disappeared before Snape could get to them. The move would've been rushed, but wouldn't have been all that hard with a couple of house elves and some magic.

'This will be a good thing,' Harry told himself. 'But then if it's so good, why does it feel like I've just had my heart ripped out?'

Andromeda interrupted Harry's internal monologue by sayings, "Well Harry, I think you ought to get back to school now, don't you?"

"Yeah, thanks," Harry replied.

"I'll let you know if I hear from either of them," Andromeda said, leading Harry back out into the sitting room, where Ted and Tonks were waiting.

Harry thanked Andromeda again and then he went back to Hogwarts with Tonks. He made Tonks promise not to tell anyone that Draco and Narcissa were missing, but he didn't tell her why it was so important. Then it was time to crawl through the portrait hole and face his friends. There were still a few Gryffindors awake even though it was well passed two in the morning; they were huddled near the fireplace crying. Hermione and Ron weren't in this group, so Harry went up to his dorm, where he found Ron and Hermione huddled on Ron's bed with tear streaked faced. Neville, Seamus, and Dean were all awake too and it appeared they were all waiting for Harry.

Suddenly Harry was exhausted. His eyes closed and he just couldn't bear to open them long enough to tell his story to one more person. He begged his friends to leave him until the morning and thankfully, they agreed. He lay down and he was out as soon as his head hit the pillow. In the morning he would have to go through the ordeal of telling the story of Dumbledore's murder by Snape over and over again and he would even take Ron and Hermione into the room of requirement to tell them about what happened to Draco, but for now, he slept.

* * *

Author's Note: This is where the usual end to a Harry Potter book comes, which means we've reached the end of Peverell's Children. Don't worry, there will be a sequel that will pick up where this story leaves off and time will go through the war at an accelerated pace. There will be a couple of scenes from Harry's POV detailing what changed from canon now that Draco and the Malfoy family are missing. There will be several chapters showing what Draco's doing during the war. Then we'll zoom over to the end of the war and Harry and Draco's reunion and how these two finally work out their differences and become a real family. So please join me over at the sequel, Peverell's Children II. I just posted the first chapter!


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